Clarke-Stewart, Friedman and Koch (1985) have noted that:
Adolescents must put it all together, the sexual stirrings, the social demands, the new awareness, the fear of being different, the need to be someone unique yet not alien. No wonder they feel disconnected and disorganized. (p.611)
School counseling services are designed to help adolescents deal with these developmental changes and difficulties as well as with more serious problems such as substance abuse and psycho-pathological problems (Peterson & Nisenholz, 1987). However,
there exists a substantial body of research which suggests that the degree to which counseling is an effective helping relationship is not independent of counselor characteristics (e.g. Cormier & Cormier, 1985; Egan, 1986; Patterson, 1985; Strong, 1968), one of which is gender (Schaffer, 1981). In other words, the degree to which clients are helped is often influenced by the characteristics of their counselors such as counselor gender.
As an expansion on the existing body of research on counseling in relation to counselor characteristics in general and counselor gender in particular, this study examined for significant associations between gender of client and counselor gender preferences in counseling services offered in a secondary school setting.
While counselor gender has been examined in the psychological literature, the majority of studies have used adult rather than adolescent populations and, further, these studies have examined for gender effects rather than for preferences (Peterson & Nisenholz, 1987). Thus, there is a need for more research in these areas. This study has significance because it adds to the existing body of counseling knowledge in both of these areas.
In addition, there is a practical need for the study which directly relates to the school from which subjects were drawn. This investigator works at this school which has a strong counseling program. Of majo...