HIGH SCHOOL DRUG COUNSELING

AND COUNSELOR DEMOGRAPHICS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Sue, Sue and Sue (1994) have noted that:

The misuse of psychoactive substances is the nation's foremost public health challenge. The use and abuse of alcohol, cigarettes, illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine, marijuana, etc.), and licit drugs (sedatives and tranquilizers) are by far the largest cause of preventable and premature illness, disability and death in our society. (p. 287)

The dimensions of the psychoactive substance abuse problem for adolescents are substantial. In this regard, Papalia and Olds (1992) report that about 77 percent of eighth graders have at least tried alcohol, 51 percent have smoked tobacco, 21 percent have tried inhalants and 15 percent have used marijuana. With respect to high school students, the authors state that over half have tried illicit drugs at some time.

While any one experimentive episode is not so bad in itself, the problem is that many of these young people will not stop there. Rather, they will go on to use and abuse drugs with relative frequency; and the effects will not only be harmful to them in adolescence but well into adulthood.

This validity of the foregoing claim is best seen in a study conducted by Kandel, Davies, Karus and Yamaguchi (1986) who performed a longitudinal study of 1,000 high school sophomores. All subjects were interviewed while in high school and then again at

. . .
amined the counseling style preferences of older adolescent and young adult male students, ages 18 to 25 (N=120). The investigation was accomplished by showing four 5-minute color videotapes. Tape one featured an African American male counselor using Reality Therapy with an African American male client who has a substance abuse problem. Tape two featured an Anglo American male counselor using Reality Therapy with the same African American male client. Tape three had the same African American male counselor using Person-Centered Therapy with the same African American male client, and tape four, the same Anglo American male counselor using Person-Centered Therapy with the same African American male client. The counseling style preferred and perception of counselor's ethnicity was measured with the Counselor Effectiveness Rating Scale (CERS) and the Perception of Counselors Questionnaire (PCQ). The results of the study were said to indicate that students referred Reality Therapy to Person-Centered Therapy. No interaction effect was observed for therapy style and counselor's ethnicity, which was said to suggest that there was no relationship between counseling style preference and counselor's ethnicity. It was also found th
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Approximate Word count = 2915
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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