The Impact Of Spiritual Maturity On Clinical Mental Health Counseling Students' Intentions To Engage In Social Justice Advocacy

<p>The ACA Code of Ethics (2014) provides a set of professional values which frequently exceeds law in an effort to ensure that clients are protected. As such, The ACA Code of Ethics (2014) states, “counselors are aware of-and avoid imposing- their own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors” (section A.4.b). However, legal cases pertaining to conflict between personal values and professional values when counselors fail to bracket personal values has been on the rise within the counseling profession. Counselors have the professional obligation to protect and advocate for clients’ rights through social justice advocacy which can occur at individual, group, institutional and societal levels. The impetus to engage in social justice may arise from a number of circumstances but an individual’s spiritual life may prove to be a motivating factor that encourages individuals to engage in advocacy efforts. Fowler (1981) hypothesized that as individuals mature spiritually, their outlook turns from an inward perspective to an outward perspective which motivates them to promote the welfare of others. However, little is known about the role spiritual maturity plays in promoting advocacy efforts in clinical mental health students. The present study seeks to gain a better understanding of the role of spirituality and how spiritual maturity impacts clinical mental health students’ intentions to engage in social justice advocacy. Results indicate that spiritual maturity does impact the role of clinical mental health students’ intentions to engage in social justice advocacy. Findings revealed that a positive relationship exists between individuals in the growth-oriented category of spiritual maturity and their intent to engage in social justice advocacy whereas, a significant negative correlation exists for individuals in the dogmatic and underdeveloped categories of spiritual maturity. Implications from this study are intended to aid counselor educators as they incorporate multicultural competencies into the classroom and for counselors in training as they identify personal values and begin to take steps to bracket their personal values while upholding professional mandates.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D. in Counselor Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Leadership and Counselor Education

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Strickland, James Samuel

Contributors dc:contributor

• Suzanne Dugger
• Marc Showalter
• Amanda Winburn

• Clinical Mental Health Students
• Social Justice Advocacy
• Spiritual Maturity
• Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/464

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-1463