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PROCESS STUDY OF SYSTEMATIC INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

NCJ Number
49255
Author(s)
S M MITCHELL
Date Published
1974
Length
192 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY OF SELECTED CORRECTIONS PERSONNEL ATTEMPTS TO DETERMINE THE SUBJECTS DIFFERENTIAL LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING ON EACH OF SIX CONDITIONS AT THREE DIFFERENT TIME INTERVALS IN THE TRAINING PROCESS.
Abstract
THE TRAINEES WERE TESTED TO DETERMINE THE DIFFERENTIAL LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING ON CONDITIONS OF EMPATHY, RESPECT, CONCRETENESS, GENUINENESS, IMMEDIACY, AND CONFRONTATION AFTER 18, 36, AND 54 HOURS OF TRAINING. DATA WERE GATHERED ON THE TRAINEES AFTER EACH OF THE THREE TRAINING PERIODS IN AN EFFORT TO SUSTAIN THE FOLLOWING HYPOTHESIS: A COMPARISON OF THE SCORES FROM THE DIFFERENT TRAINING PERIODS WILL EVIDENCE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE SUBJECTS' MEASURED LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING ON THE SIX CONDITIONS OF HELPING. HOWEVER, THE DATA REVEALED THAT FOR EACH ADDITIONAL 18 HOURS OF TRAINING, THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE SUBJECTS' LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING ON AT LEAST ONE OF THE 6 DIMENSIONS. AFTER 54 HOURS TRAINING, THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE SUBJECTS IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY REGARDING THEIR ABILITY TO OFFER LEVELS OF EMPATHY, GENUINENESS, AND IMMEDIACY COMPARED TO THE LEVELS OF FUNCTIONING RECORDED AFTER ONLY ONE TRAINING PERIOD. THE PURPOSE, CONTEXT, NEED, AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ARE DISCUSSED, ALONG WITH THE RESEARCH HYPOTHESES. THE RESULTS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW RELATING TO THE SIX CONDITIONS OF HELPING ARE PROVIDED. AN OUTLINE OF THE STUDY DESIGN IS FOLLOWED BY A DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RELATING TO TRAINING PRACTICE AND FURTHER RESEARCH ARE PROVIDED. A VARIETY OF MATERIALS ARE APPENDED, INCLUDING A DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FORM AND TABLES OF INTERCORRELATION COEFFICIENTS. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND TABULAR DATA ARE ALSO PROVIDED.