Moral Development, Counseling Self-Efficacy, and Counselors-In-Training Sexual Orientation Counseling Competencies
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Moral Development, Counseling Self-Efficacy, and Counselors-In-Training Sexual Orientation Counseling Competencies By Melissa Gaa, MA A Dissertation In COUNSELOR EDUCATION Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Dr. Bret Hendricks Chair of Committee Dr. Janet Froeschle Dr. Amanda Williams Dr. Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School December 2014 Copyright, 2014 Melissa Gaa Texas Tech University, Melissa Gaa, December 2014 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my family for your continued support throughout the years. Steve, I could not have done this without your consistent support during graduate school. Thank you for listening to me continuously discuss this topic and for being an ally and advocate to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Thank you for your willingness to always help and listen when I needed you. I know how lucky I am to have a you as a life partner, and I can't imagine this journey without you. To my daughters, Aspen and Emerson, may you always follow your dreams and let nothing stand in your way. I thank you for putting up with me working more than I should, understanding the importance of an education, and realizing the need to help others. To my parents, thank you for your never-ending support and belief in me. Your encouragement has been truly helpful in getting me to this point. To my brother, thank you for being the best big brother a girl could ask for. You are my inspiration for this dissertation and I will continue to advocate for the LGBT community as long as I am around. Thank you for your support over the years and many heated discussions on how we can change the world through advocating. You truly are an amazing person. I thank each of my committee members, Dr. Bret Hendricks, Dr. Janet Froeschle, and Dr. Amanda Williams. Thank you for your willingness to serve on my committee, and your support and guidance. Dr. Hendricks, for all the time you have spent with me discussing this topic and dealing with my anxiety. Thank you for mentoring me through the counseling program and as a Graduate Assistant. Your pep talks and support have helped get me to this point, I am truly grateful for you. Dr. Froeschle, your support has proven invaluable to me. Thank you for the many meetings and email exchanges with me to keep me on track and focused. You are truly an inspiration and I am comforted in ii Texas Tech University, Melissa Gaa, December 2014 knowing you are always supportive of my endeavors. Dr. Williams, thank you for your quantitative research guidance. Your assistance proved invaluable to me. Without your help, this process would have taken longer for me to complete. You have been amazingly supportive and your guidance is beyond doubt appreciated. Thank you to all the professors and fellow graduate students that helped me get the survey out for completion of this dissertation. Without your help, I would not be at this point. I also want to thank members of my cohort that have helped me through the past three years with the tremendous amount of support you offered. Lynn Jennings and Nefertiti Beck, for the tireless hours you spent talking with me about being in a doctoral program, my dissertation and life in general. Nicole Noble, your help was so valuable to me through the dissertation process, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you. The support I received from each of you has helped me get to this point, and I thank you. iii Texas Tech University, Melissa Gaa, December 2014 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................ii ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................vii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................1 Background of the Study....................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem...................................................................................................5 Purpose of the Study...........................................................................................................6 Hypotheses..........................................................................................................................8 Theoretical Framework.......................................................................................................9 Delimitations......................................................................................................................10 Limitations.........................................................................................................................10 Assumptions.......................................................................................................................10 Definition of Key Terms....................................................................................................11 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE...........................................................14 Introduction........................................................................................................................14 Moral Development-Kohlberg...............................................................................15 Moral Development-Graduate Students................................................................17 Multicultural Competence & Training...................................................................19 Affirmative Counseling.........................................................................................23 Social Cognitive Theory........................................................................................25 Self-Efficacy..........................................................................................................26 Professional Counseling Organizations.................................................................28 Ethics......................................................................................................................29 ACA Code of Ethics 2014.....................................................................................31 iv Texas Tech University, Melissa Gaa, December 2014 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................35 Overview............................................................................................................................35 Hypotheses.........................................................................................................................36 Participants.........................................................................................................................37 Instruments........................................................................................................................38 Demographic Survey.............................................................................................38 Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Affirmative Counseling Self-Efficacy (LGB-CSI)....38 Defining Issues Test (DIT-2).................................................................................40 Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS)................................41 Procedure...........................................................................................................................42 Data Analysis.....................................................................................................................43 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS.................................................................................................45 Introduction........................................................................................................................45 Analysis of Data.................................................................................................................45 Data Preparation.....................................................................................................45 Descriptive Statistics..............................................................................................47 Analysis and Results..........................................................................................................50 Hypothesis 1...........................................................................................................55 Hypothesis 2...........................................................................................................57 Hypothesis 3...........................................................................................................59 Summary............................................................................................................................60 CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION............................................................................................62 Introduction........................................................................................................................62 Summary............................................................................................................................62 v Texas Tech University, Melissa Gaa, December 2014 Moral Development and Multicultural Competencies...........................................63 Self-Efficacy and Multicultural Competencies......................................................64