Date of Graduation

5-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Advisor/Mentor

Roy C. Farley

Committee Member

George Denny

Second Committee Member

Barbara Shadden

Third Committee Member

Brent Williams

Keywords

Counselor educators, disabilities, faculty, attitudes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of nine variables with attitudes of Counselor Educators toward persons with disabilities. The objective was to identify several potential variables that may influence attitudes. Nine variables were examined to test their relationship with attitude among the participants. An analysis was completed of the significance between each of the factors and attitude as measured by the SADP (Antonak, 1981). The independent variables were: a) age; b) gender; c) ethnicity; d) amount of contact with disabled persons; e) knowledge of disability legislation; f) comfort with type of disability; g) theoretical orientation; h) years of experience as a Counselor Educator; and i) one’s discipline/specialty within Counselor Education. The participants in this study were a convenience sample of Counselor Educators who were members of the Counselor Education and Supervision listserv (CESNET-L). Of the approximate 900 members invited to participate, 6% of the members volunteered to participate (n= 56; 22 (39%) males, 34 (61% ) females). Each participant electronically completed a demographics questionnaire and the Scale of Attitudes toward Disabled Persons (SADP; Antonak, 1981). Overall, two hypotheses were supported by the data collected from this study. It was found that comfort level was correlated with higher scores on the SADP (Antonak, 1981); and, higher levels of knowledge of disability legislation are also associated with higher scores on the SADP. With these exceptions, the data did not support the hypotheses which stated there were significant differences or relationships between the stated variables and attitude toward persons with disabilities among Counselor Educators.

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