Volume : V, Issue : V, May - 2016

The Role of the Guidance Counselor for Arab Students with Divorced Parents

Zaher Accariya

Abstract :

 The purpose of this study is to investigate the behavior, perception, attitudes and knowledge of guidance counselors regarding students with divorced parents and evaluate the relative effect of these variables on their behavior. Concurrently, we examine the relationship between these variables and the personal and professional characteristics of the counselors and those of the school. The hypothesis is that there is a positive correlation between functional behavior and their knowledge, perception of their role and their attitudes. A greater knowledge of the effects of the divorce on the children, a stance that the school and counselor should take an active role in working with children of divorced parents and positive attitudes towards divorce would result in greater interaction during the crisis and more support over a longer period. In addition, a counselor’s personal demographic and professional characteristics and school characteristics would reflect in counselor’s knowledge, role perception and attitudes. The participants of the study were 116 guidance counselors in different levels of public schools (elementary, junior high and high). They responded to a questionnaire covering four sub-topics: counselors’ behavior in work with children of divorced parents, their perception of their role and that of the school, their attitudes towards divorce, and their knowledge regarding the effects of divorce on children. The results show that counselors invest the most time in initial and ad hoc intervention during the divorce crisis and hardly any in long-term follow-up and support. The findings, which mostly support the hypothesis, indicate the importance of knowledge for the counselors’ perception of their role and their functional behavior. Counselors with greater knowledge about the effects of divorce on children believe it their duty to interact with students whose parents divorce, therefore provide crisis support more frequently. Supportive intervention is explained by knowledge and role perception combined—characteristics subject to change—whereas crisis intervention is explained by role perception alone. As to fixed characteristics, no strong link was found from behavior, role perception, attitudes and knowledge to personal-professional characteristics of the counselors and the school. In view of the importance of knowledge for counselor behavior and their role perception, their reports that they never learned about divorce neither during their training nor during their career (supported by low results in the questionnaire) should be a source of concern for those responsible for the professional development of guidance counselors.

Keywords :

Article: Download PDF    DOI : https://www.doi.org/10.36106/gjra  

Cite This Article:

Zaher Accariya The Role of the Guidance Counselor for Arab Students with Divorced Parents Global Journal For Research Analysis, Vol: 5, Issue : 5 MAY 2016

Number of Downloads : 418

References :