NCJ Number
139433
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 18 Issue: 1/2 Dated: (1992) Pages: 159-171
Date Published
1992
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Two variables related to successful treatment outcome are client-counselor similarity and the client's positive perception of the treatment environment. These variables were investigated using a sample of 96 institutionalized female delinquents.
Abstract
Client length of time in counseling ranged from 1 to 11 months, with a mean time in counseling of 4.77 months. Counselors who worked with the institutionalized girls were all female. The length of professional counseling experience ranged from 12 to 228 months, with a mean of 69 months. The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) was used to measure the degree of similarity in personality between client and counselor, while the Correctional Institutions Environment Scale (CIES) was employed to assess client perceptions of the treatment environment. Study findings indicated a significant association between client-counselor similarity on the CPI social dimension and client ratings of the CIES relationship dimension. Findings also confirmed that similarity between client and counselor on the personality dimension measuring sociability, character, responsibility, and intrapersonal values was significantly related to the client's positive opinion of the degree of involvement, support, and expressiveness within the treatment environment. Higher client educational levels, older clients, and younger counselors were associated with increased client-counselor similarity. Further, there was a relation between client length of time in counseling and greater client-counselor similarity. Black clients were more similar to their counselors than white clients, although white clients had higher ratings of the treatment environment. 17 references and 3 tables