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Article Excerpt
This study examined the psychometric properties of the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS), an instrument that measures the attitudes, skills, and knowledge of counselors who work with lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Internal consistency of the SOCCS was .90, and 1-week test-retest reliability was .84. Criterion, concurrent, and divergent validity tests established the SOCCS as a psychometrically sound instrument.
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According to one of the eight core curriculum areas set forth by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP; 2001), CACREP-accredited counseling programs should address social and cultural diversity training and experiences ([section] II.K.2). Multicultural counselor competency theory and research give counselor educators, supervisors, and researchers a theoretical system to address social and cultural diversity education for counselor trainees. In fact, multicultural counselor competence is now considered to be fundamental in assessment, practice, training, and research for counselors (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992).
To date, three self-report multicultural counselor competency instruments have generated a wealth of knowledge in the area of multicultural counseling (Ponterotto, Rieger, Barrett, & Sparks, 1994; Pope-Davis & Dings, 1995). These instruments, which are based on the conceptual model outlined by Sue et al. (1982), include items that measure respondents' (a) awareness of their attitudes, worldview, and own cultural history; (b) skills to work with specific ethnic minority groups; and (c) knowledge about ethnic minority clients. Multicultural counselor competency theory and assessment have focused primarily on ethnic minority clients. Constantine, Gloria, and Ladany (2002) argued that "future investigators should identify ways of determining clinicians' self-perceived competence in working with nonracial and nonethnic cultural groups" (p. 343). The purpose of the present study was to extend multicultural counselor competency theory and instrumentation research to lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations. This study establishes the first valid and reliable scale, the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS), for measuring counselors' attitude, skill, and knowledge competencies when working with LGB clients.
Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency
Although extending multicultural counselor competency theory to LGB minorities has been advocated recently (Fassinger & Richie, 1997; Israel & Selvidge, 2003), developing the construct and, more specifically, developing an instrument to measure sexual orientation counselor competency have not been fully realized. Drawing on Sue et al.'s (1982) model, sexual orientation counselor competency is defined as the attitude, knowledge, and skill competencies that counselors need to provide ethical, affirmative, and competent services to LGB clients (Fassinger & Richie, 1997; Israel & Selvidge, 2003). The construct of sexual orientation counselor competency focuses only on LGB clients, even though transgender individuals are commonly included as members of this community. Sexual orientation and gender identity are different phenomena requiring different competencies for counselors (see Carroll & Gilroy, 2002).
The prejudice and biases experienced by LGB individuals are different than those experienced by ethnic minorities, thus requiring counselors to develop specific attitude, skill, and knowledge competencies (Fassinger & Richie, 1997; Israel & Selvidge, 2003; Kocarek & Pelling, 2003). Because being LGB is still seen by some individuals as immoral and likely remains the only minority category for which religious beliefs are used to substantiate intolerance, it is especially important that counselors develop an awareness of their attitudes, assumptions, and prejudices concerning same-sex sexual orientation (Israel & Selvidge, 2003). Counselors also need specific knowledge of LGB sociocultural history, biases in mental health care, and intragroup diversity to work effectively with LGB clients (Buhrke, 1989; Israel & Selvidge, 2003). Last, counselors need to obtain clinical training and experiences to develop effective counseling skills for working with LGB individuals, couples, and families (Kocarek & Pelling, 2003).
Method
Sample and Procedure
Sampling procedures were based on previous multicultural counselor competency instrumentation literature (see Ponterotto, Gretchen, Utsey, Rieger, & Austin, 2002; Ponterotto et al., 1994; Pope-Davis & Dings, 1995). In the present study, there were 312 participants (235 women and 77 men, mean age = 31.9 years). The entire sample was used for all statistical analyses except for the 1-week test-retest correlation. To determine test-retest reliability, a subset of 101 research participants (master's- and doctoral-level students and counselor educators/supervisors) from four universities were asked to complete the SOCCS 1 week after they had initially completed the original survey packet.
Research participants were students, counselor educators, and counselor supervisors voluntarily recruited from 13 public and 3 private universities. The sample included (a) 47 (15.1%) undergraduate psychology students who were enrolled in an introductory counseling course; (b) 154 (49.4%) master's-level counseling students who were enrolled in a CACREP-accredited school or community counseling program; (c) 62 (19.9%) doctoral-level students, 32 of whom were enrolled in a CACREP-accredited counselor education program and 30 were enrolled in a university counseling center internship approved by the American Psychological Association (APA); and (d) 49 (15.7%) doctoral-level counselor educators or supervisors, 22 of whom were counselor supervisors working at APA-approved university counseling centers and 28 were counselor educators in CACREP-approved counselor education programs.
Obtaining the sample from 16 university counseling programs and centers across the United States ensured a diverse range of research participants. Approximately 85.3% (n = 266) of the sample reported being heterosexual; 12.2% (n = 38) reported being lesbian, gay, or bisexual; and 2.5% (n = 8) did not to respond to this question. The sample was ethnically mixed: 7.1% were African American/Black (n = 22), 10.6% were Asian American (n = 33), 61.2% were European American/White...
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