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Bayesian racism is the belief that it is rational to discriminate against people based on existing racial stereotypes. The presence of Bayesian racism is strongly associated with negative feelings about minoritized groups and the desire to maintain racially inequitable social hierarchies. A confirmatory factor analysis on the Bayesian Racism Scale (BRS) yielded a unidimensional measure for assessing prejudicial attitudes that endorse stereotypes based on racial and ethnic groups. Findings from the study have important implications for multicultural and social justice research.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between involvement in volunteer activities of youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods and their life aspirations: the intensity of their remembered positive experiences: and their sense of coherence (SOC). Scales measuring these factors were administered to three groups of adolescents from disadvantaged neighborhoods: a) 57 adolescents who had been active volunteers during the course of one year, b) 37 adolescents who had merely registered to become involved but had not yet begun their activity, and c) 42 adolescents who were not involved in any volunteer activity. A cross-sectional design was selected to compare the three groups. The results showed that adolescents who had been involved in such activities for a period of at least one year expressed a stronger sense of coherence in their lives, a higher desire to commit of themselves to society, and a greater capacity to experience more intense positive experiences, in comparison to the other two groups of their noninvolved peers. The potential significance of volunteer activity for disadvantated adolescents was explored, and suggestions were offered for new directions in social rehabilitation programs.

This study explored perceptions of social justice advocacy among liberal, moderate, and conservative members (N = 214) of the American Counseling Association (ACA). Results showed that conservative participants had somewhat less favorable perceptions of social justice advocacy, but generally did not differ statistically from liberal and moderate participants. Statistically significant differences, however, were found among extremely liberal participants. All participants generally supported the use of ACA resources for social activism. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Multidimensional scaling analyses (MDS) was used to uncover the phenomenology or implicit cognitions underlying presenting problems for which African American male and female students reported seeking college counseling services, in comparison to their European American counterparts. Normative, idiographic, and idiothetic approaches to the measurement of explicit versus implicit dimensions of students’ reports of eight psychological issues (seven disorders and medication use) for which they sought counseling in two timeframes (historical and current) were conducted by ethnicity/race and gender. It was hypothesized that idiographic and idiothetic approaches, which involved profile analyses using nonmetric MDS, would be more likely to reveal intersectionality between ethnicity/race and gender than the normative approach. Results supported the hypothesis of the greater sensitivity of the two individual difference models. Nonmetric MDS analyses revealed significant differences across profiles, with African American males underutilizing mental health services but displaying significant psychological distress; and African American females receiving significantly more pharmacotherapy for depression. Implications for college mental health services for African Americans are discussed.

A significant number of personal, social, cultural, and economic forces are encountering each other in our global environment. In order to maintain professional responses which reflect changing times, counsellors and counsellor education programs must attend to international, sociopolitical trends in an interdisciplinary context. In this article, the authors identify trends and recommendations relevant to the future of counselling.

Adolescence, being a period of rapid change and development, is often associated with experiences of turmoil and anxiety. Shyness is common as the adolescent attempts to explore boundaries, gain self-knowledge, and form an identity. An approach successful in treating this type of nervous pre-occupation is Morita therapy. This article describes how Morita therapy, in the form of Morita counselling, was applied in treating 12 shy adolescents seen in 3 groups. Four brief counselling sessions were conducted. The aim of treatment was not to rid the adolescent of shyness but to have them experience accomplishment and be productive despite anxiety symptoms. The main concepts presented were: action can be taken despite experiencing anxiety, emotions cannot willfully be controlled but behaviour can be chosen, and shyness is a reflection of greater sensitivity to life and can serve in a positive way. Positive treatment effects were observed on reported cognitive and behavioural measures and verified by behavioural counts documented. In conclusion, the adolescents appeared to have gained a more positive outlook on their shyness and an awareness of personal control through choice of action. By providing a concrete mechanism for approaching the shyness difficulty, Morita counselling, even in a brief number of sessions, has the potential for making an impact on this age group helping to spare them the anguish of social withdrawal and isolation.

The concept of self actualization in Humanistic Psychology, as developed by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, is compared and contrasted with the concept of self-realization in Vedandic Hinduism and the two major schools of Buddhism-Thervada and Mahayana. The first part of the paper deals with the theoretical views of Maslow and Rogers and their philosophical foundations. The second part of the paper deals with common elements and differences among the schools of Eastern philosophies. Finally, the concept of self actualization in Humanistic Psychology is compared and contrasted with the concept of self-realization in the three Eastern philosophies covered in this paper. It is concluded that the two concepts complement each other and provide us with a broader view of self-development than each view by itself. Implications for counseling are brought out.