TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in nonprofessional mental health workers' response preference and attitudes as a function of training and supervised field experience
AU - Dorr, Darwin
AU - Cowen, Emory L.
AU - Sandler, Irwin N.
N1 - Funding Information:
The Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP) is a preventively oriented school mental health program in which psychologists and social workers function as consultants and program coordinators, and nonprofessionals (child-aides) working under professional supervision provide direct services to children (Cowen, Dorr, Izzo, Madonia, & Trost, 1971). Like many recent community mental health (CMH) programs, PMHP is guided by the philosophy that carefully selected nonprofessionals, with good natural helping skills, can bring effective assistance to individuals experiencing emotional distress. Aide selection attributes are considered more important than formalized training. Indeed, overtraining nonprofessionals could conceivably blunt the warmth and naturalness for which they were chosen. While PMHP aides are largely ready to work with children when they are hired, they are first given a brief series of 12 training sessions and they continueto be supervised by professionals after they start working with children. It is reasonable to assume that their attitudes and job-related response styles may change as a function of their training, job experience, and supervision. As part of a previous study Sandier (1972) compared personality characteristics, attitudes, and interests of 50 PMHP aides (Es) and 39 matched controls (Cs). Aides were tested after they had been selected but be'fore their training began. Among the instruments used were the Situational Response Test (SRT), developed by Sandier, measuring preference for response styles in working with ineffectively functioning children, and an adaptation of the 1 This work was made possible through support by NIMH grant MH 11820-03, from the Pilots and Experimental Training Branch; this support is acknowledged with appreciation. The authors extend special thanks to Mrs. Alice Wilson, who assisted ably in data collection and analysis.
Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1973
Y1 - 1973
N2 - Nonprofessional mental health workers in a program for early detection and prevention of school maladaptation in children were compared to demographically similar controls on changes in attitudes and clinical response style after 12 didactic training sessions and 3 1 2 months of supervised field experience. There were no attitude change differences between aides and controls. Aides, however, came to favor "understanding" responses significantly more, and "rejecting" responses less, than controls. Interpretively, some combination of training, experience, and supervision increased aide knowledgeability without diminishing warmth and spontaneity.
AB - Nonprofessional mental health workers in a program for early detection and prevention of school maladaptation in children were compared to demographically similar controls on changes in attitudes and clinical response style after 12 didactic training sessions and 3 1 2 months of supervised field experience. There were no attitude change differences between aides and controls. Aides, however, came to favor "understanding" responses significantly more, and "rejecting" responses less, than controls. Interpretively, some combination of training, experience, and supervision increased aide knowledgeability without diminishing warmth and spontaneity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=49549167618&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=49549167618&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0022-4405(73)90047-2
DO - 10.1016/0022-4405(73)90047-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:49549167618
SN - 0022-4405
VL - 11
SP - 118
EP - 122
JO - Journal of School Psychology
JF - Journal of School Psychology
IS - 2
ER -