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Article Excerpt
Practicing school counselors (N = 512) were surveyed, using the Role Questionnaire (J. R. Rizzo, R. J. House. & S. I. Lirtzman, 1970), to determine levels of role conflict, role incongruence, and role ambiguity. Additionally, 8 characteristics of the participants' positions as school counselors were examined to determine what factors might affect role stress. Data were examined for the total group and by school level. Elementary school counselors were found to have lower levels of role conflict and role incongruence than high school counselors. Believing that the job matched their initial perceptions, that they were adequately trained, and that peer supervision was available were predictors of reduced role stress among the group and for various school level subgroups.
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Professional associations, accreditation bodies, and training programs have made strides in defining the roles and duties of school counselors (e.g., American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2003); however, research has continued to indicate that the actual functions of school counselors do not reflect what have been identified as best practices (Brott & Myers, 1999; Scarborough, 2002). This is due, in part, to the influence of noncounseling individuals within the school system to whom school counselors are directly accountable. These individuals operate from philosophical and methodological guidelines that are different than those of school counselors, have their own agendas, and typically have little knowledge of the school counseling profession (Paisley & Borders, 1995). School counselors struggle with the conflict between the realities of their job and the focus of their training and professional associations (Brott & Myers, 1999; Sink & Yillik-Downer, 2001). To be successful, school counselors must negotiate these discrepancies within a setting where their position is often misunderstood or ill defined (Baker, 2000).
Role definition continues to be a significant challenge for school counselors (Boyd & Walter, 1975; Brott & Myers, 1999; Burnham & Jackson, 2000; Paisley & McMahon, 2001; Scarborough, 2002; Sears & Granello, 2002). The term role denotes a set of expectations placed on an individual occupying a particular position (e.g., school counselor) in an organization (e.g., school). These expectations are defined and applied by the individual, as well as by others within and beyond the organization's boundaries (Van Sell, Brief, & Schuler, 1981). For school counselors, this means that those within the school (e.g., school boards, administrators, teachers, parents, and students) and those outside of the school system (e.g., counselor educators, professional leaders, state and federal legislators), as well as their own personal guidelines, influence the definition and application of their roles.
Given the conflicting and inconsistent messages school counselors receive and their personal viewpoints, there is a potential for school counselors to experience role stress. Role stress consists of three separate yet related constructs: role conflict, role ambiguity, role incongruence (Coil & Freeman, 1997). Role conflict arises when an employee is faced with incongruent role demands from two or more role senders (e.g., administrator, other school counselor, teacher, counselor educator) or when an employee has different expectations than those associated with his or her position (Coil & Freeman, 1997; Van Sell et al., 1981). Role ambiguity occurs when roles are not clearly articulated in terms of responsibilities or expected performance levels (Coil & Freeman, 1997; Van Sell et al., 1981). Role incongruence exists when there are too many roles to be fulfilled without necessary support or when an individual is caught between the expectations of two groups (e.g., expected to share information about a student with a principal when the school counselor believes the information should be kept confidential; Freeman & Coil, 1997).
It has been hypothesized that individuals cope with role stress by maintaining the status quo or by withdrawing from interaction and communication with role senders (Van Sell et al., 1981). Challenges to the professional identity and role of school counselors may, as Baker (2000) noted,
discourage some from entering the school counseling profession; cause others to leave early defeated and disappointed; cause some to adjust and become pseudo-counselors: confuse students, parents, and colleagues about the roles and functions of counselors; and leave many counselors disappointed in their training and trainers. (p. 336)
Within the school counseling profession, these are the very reactions that must be avoided if school counselors are to continue to make strides as effective contributors to the school organization.
Little attention has been given to role stress within the school counseling field. Findings regarding other occupations, however, have shown that role conflict and ambiguity were correlated with job dissatisfaction, lower commitment to organizational roles, job-related tension and fatigue, low performance, and low job effectiveness (Coll & Freeman, 1997; Jackson & Schuler, 1985; Tubre & Collins, 2000; Van Sell et al., 1981). Findings within education have shown that role conflict and role ambiguity were associated with several outcomes related to school effectiveness, such as teacher role stress, teacher burnout, and turnover (Bacharach, Bamberger, & Mitchell, 1990; Byrne, 1994; Embich, 2001).
In the one study addressing role stress for school counselors, Coil and Freeman (1997) found that school counselors did experience role conflict and role incongruence. They also examined differences between school levels and found that elementary school counselors reported significantly higher levels of role conflict and role incongruence than did their secondary-level counterparts. Coil and Freeman did not attempt to identify any other variables that might be related...
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