Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1970

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Counseling and Human Development

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to provide some basic understanding of the value of group counseling as it affects the self concept of individual participants. In many theoretical constructs of humanistic psychology there are numerous references emphasizing that the most important goal for group counseling is individual members’ attainment of a better understanding of themselves. A corollary to this assumption is that by understanding themselves, group members will be able to deal with their own frustrations and conflicts in a more meaningful way. The theoretical construct produced by this philosophical concept of self has been extensive, but the evaluation of this concept, specifically as it relates to group counseling has been disappointing. Thelen and Harris (1968) voiced this disappointment cogently when they concluded that further research was needed to investigate the personality characteristics of individual group members so that methods of treatment could be made more responsive to the personality and needs of the individual. Due to this expressed need for research on the self concept and its effect on individual participants in group counseling, the present study was designed to assess the change in self concept of freshmen college students, who had ranked in the lower one third of their high school classes, after experiencing group counseling. Based on this research problem the following null hypothesis was proposed: As measured by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, lower third college freshmen students will not significantly change their self concept after experiencing group counseling.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Group counseling

Self-reliance

South Dakota State University Theses

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

45

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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