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Article Excerpt
To conduct aa initial investigation into the use of criminal background checks and related issues in counselor education programs, surveys were sent to the contacts from 50 programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2001). The results of this pilot study highlight the need for more research, discussion, and discourse about the benefits and disadvantages of using criminal background checks.
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Recently in the field of counseling, there has been an increased emphasis on counselor education program admission criteria (Bradey & Post, 1991; Markert & Monke, 1990; Nelson, Canada, & Lancaster, 2003), methods used to screen counseling program applicants (Bradey & Post, 1991; Nagpal & Ritchie, 2002; Perusse, Goodnough, & Noel, 2001), and characteristics of and methods for addressing students with impairments (Bradey & Post, 1991; Forrest, Elman, Gizara, & Vacha-Haase, 1999; Gaubatz & Vera, 2002). One relatively new method for screening program applicants and for identifying students who may be unsuitable for work as a counselor, the criminal background check, has not been addressed in the counseling literature. However, anecdotal evidence (e.g., CESNET Listserv discussions) suggests that this is one method that is used by some counselor education programs.
There is currently no available research in the professional literature about the use of criminal background checks in counselor education programs, nor is there literature identifying the issues related to the use of background checks in counseling programs. The purpose of the current study was to survey counselor education programs to gather preliminary empirical evidence regarding the use of criminal background checks to determine the extent to which such checks are used, how they are used, and the issues that counselor educators perceive as most important with regard to criminal background checks.
Our research is significant because it addresses an issue that heretofore has not appeared in the counseling literature. This research provides some empirical evidence that criminal background checks are required for a number of students in counselor education programs. In addition, the perceptions of a sample of program coordinators regarding the most significant issues related to the use of criminal background checks in counselor education were explored.
Method
Participants
The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP; 2001) has accredited 172 counselor education programs. Fifty of these programs were randomly selected to receive our survey. Rather than mail the survey to all CACREP programs, we selected 50 programs because the current study was conducted to collect preliminary, descriptive data. Because no other investigation is available regarding the use of criminal background checks in counselor education, we wanted to determine whether or not this was an issue of substance. Also, because no statistical tests were planned, the factor that is typically considered when determining sample size, power (Heppner, Kivlighan, & Wampold, 1992), was not pertinent for the current study.
Mailings were sent to program contact persons, as listed in the CACREP program directory, or the program coordinator if no current contact information was available on a program's Web site regarding the CACREP contact. All contact persons had earned a doctorate degree. Thirty-seven out of 50 programs responded to our survey, resulting in a response rate of 74%. The responding programs represented seven of the nine CACREP-accredited programs. The following programs were represented: school counseling (n = 30), community counseling (n = 29), counselor education and supervision programs (n = 7), marriage and couples counseling or therapy (n = 5), mental health counseling (n = 4), student affairs practice in higher education with emphasis in college counseling (n = 4), and student affairs practice in higher education with emphasis in professional practice (n = 3). No programs that offered the career counseling or gerontological counseling options responded to this survey. At least three states from each of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) regions were represented in the participating programs.
Measure
It appears that the term criminal background check is frequently used but rarely defined. For this article, we define criminal background check as the process of gathering information about the criminal convictions of an individual. A criminal background check may be conducted at the local, state, or national level. Criminal background checks may be done by local police or sheriff departments, state-level bureaus of investigation, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Connerley, Arvey, & Bernardy, 2001).
Literature related to criminal background checks was collected from journals, online databases, news reports, and an online electronic mailing list. Literature was reviewed concerning criminal background check processes and issues in the areas of health care, human services, volunteer-recruiting nonprofit agencies, home-based services, education, and the insurance industry. The archives of the CESNET Listserv contain information on two recent discussions by counseling professionals about the issues of criminal background checks in counselor education programs. No literature on criminal background checks was found in the counseling or psychology professional journals. Several articles in social work journals were found, but they discussed criminal background checks in relation to employment rather than the education and training of social workers. Also, no research that was directly pertinent was found in the education literature.
After reviewing the literature, we developed a survey instrument. The items on the survey represent issues or questions that appeared repeatedly in the literature or in the CESNET Listserv discussions. Themes and patterns emerged that were consistent across disciplines. The relevancy of particular issues or...
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