Low-Income African-American Caregivers’ Experiences of Being Referred to Mental Health Services by the School Counselor: Implications for Best Practices
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online February, 2009
Low-Income African-American Caregivers’ Experiences of Being Referred to Mental Health Services by the School Counselor: Implications for Best Practices
Referring students for mental health care is a core job function for school counselors, and one that is often stressful for all parties involved. In this phenomenological study, six low-income African-American caregivers were interviewed about their experiences of having a son or grandson referred for mental health care by the school counselor. Issues of how the participants viewed the school, mental health care, and the process of being referred were explored. Key findings include the caregivers’ experiences of alienation in the face of a rigid system for parent involvement in educational decision making, caregivers’ perceived lack of power, and caregivers’ lack of understanding of school administrative processes. Recommendations for school counseling practice are given, along with suggestions for school counselor education.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlegriaM., CaninoG., RiosR., VeraM., CalderonJ., RuschD., et al. (2002). Inequalities in use of specialty mental health services among Latinos, African-Americans, and non-Latino Whites.Psychiatric Services, 53, 1547–1555.
2.
AmateaE. (2008). Building culturally responsive family-school partnerships.Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
3.
AmateaE., Smith-AdcockS.,& VillaresE. (2006). From family deficit to family strength: Viewing families’ contributions to children's learning from a family resilience perspective.Professional School Counselor, 9, 177–187.
4.
AmateaE., & West-OlatunjiC. (2007). Joining the conversation about educating our poorest children: Emerging leadership roles for school counselors in high-poverty schools.Professional School Counseling, 11, 81–89.
5.
AngoldA., ErkanliA., FarmerE., FairbankJ., BurnsB., KeelerG., et al. (2002). Psychiatric disorder, impairment, and service use in rural African-American and White adolescents.Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 893–901.
6.
ApplebaumP. (2002). Multicultural and diversity education.Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
7.
ArciaE., FernandezM., MariselaJ., CastilloH., & RuizM. (2004). Modes of entry into services for young children with disruptive behaviors.Qualitative Health Research, 14, 1211–1226.
8.
BakerS. (1996). School counseling for the twenty-first century (2nd ed.).Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
9.
BemakF., & ChungR.C.-Y. (2005). Advocacy as a critical role for urban school counselors:Working toward equity and social justice.Professional School Counseling, 8, 196–202.
10.
BrownD., & TrustyJ. (2005). Designing and leading comprehensive school counseling programs.Belmont, CA: Brooks-Cole.
11.
BryanJ. (2005). Fostering educational resilience and achievement in urban schools through school-family-community partnerships.Professional School Counseling, 8, 219–227.
12.
BussingR., ZimaB., GaryF., & GarvanC. (2003). Barriers to detection, help-seeking, and service use for children with ADHD symptoms.Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 30, 176–189.
13.
CarterP. (2003).“Black” cultural capital, status positioning, and schooling conflicts for low-income African-American youth.Social Problems, 50, 136–155.
ChowJ., JaffeeK., & SnowdenL. (2003). Racial/ethnic disparities in the use of mental health services in poverty areas.American Journal of Public Health, 93, 792–797.
16.
ColpeL. (2000). Estimates of mental and emotional problems, functional impairments, and associated disability outcomes for the U.S. child population in households. In ManderscheidR. & HendersonM. (Eds.), Mental health, United States,2000 (pp. 269–278).Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
17.
ComerJ. (1989).The school development program:A psychosocial model of school intervention. In BerryG. L. & AsamenJ.K. (Eds.), Black students: Psychosocial issues and academic achievement.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (2001). CACREP 2001 standards. Retrieved May 27, 2007, from http://www.cacrep.org
19.
Day-VinesN.,& Day-HairstonB. (2005). Culturally congruent strategies for addressing the behavioral needs of urban, African-American adolescents.Professional School Counseling, 8, 236–243.
20.
ErfordB. (2003). Transforming the school counseling profession.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
21.
FrenchR., ReardonM., & SmithP. (2003). Engaging with a mental health service: Perspectives of at-risk youth.Child & Adolescent Social Work, 20, 529–548.
22.
GlesneC. (1999). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction.New York: Longman.
23.
Holcomb-McCoyC. (2007). School counseling to close the achievement gap: A social justice framework for success.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
24.
HowellE. (2004). Access to children's mental health services under Medicaid and SCHIP. Urban Institute, Series B, No. B-60. Retrieved August 5, 2005, from http://www.urban.org
25.
HuangL., StroulB., FriedmanR., MrazekP., FreisenB., & PiresS. (2005). Transforming mental health care for children and their families.American Psychologist, 60, 615–627.
26.
LeeC. (2005). Urban school counseling: Context, characteristics, and competencies.Professional School Counseling, 83, 184–188.
27.
LiuW. (2001). Expanding our understanding of multiculturalism: Developing a social class worldview model. In Pope-DavisD. & ColemanH. (Eds.), The intersection of race, class, and gender in counseling psychology (pp. 127–170).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
28.
LiuW., PickettT., & IveyA. (2007).White middle-class privilege: Social class bias and implications for training and practice.Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 35, 194–207.
29.
LottB. (2001). Low-income parents and the public schools.Journal of Social Issues, 57, 247–259.
30.
McKayM., LynnC., & BannonW. (2005). Understanding inner-city child mental health need and trauma exposure: Implications for preparing urban service providers.Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75, 201–210.
31.
MerriamS. (1995). What can you tell from an N of 1? Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research.PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 4, 51–60.
32.
MonroeC. (2005, October). Why are “bad boys”always Black? Causes of disproportionality in school discipline and recommendations for change.The Clearing House, p.45.
33.
MoustakasC. (1994). Phenomenological research methods.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
34.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). The condition of education 2006 (NCES-2006).Washington DC: U.S. Department of Education.
35.
NogueraP. (2003).The trouble with Black boys:The role and influence of environmental and cultural factors on the academic performance of African American males.Urban Education, 38, 431–459.
36.
NogueraP. (2007). The trouble with Black boys: And other reflections on race, equity, and the future of public education.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
37.
PattonJ. M., & Day-VinesN. (2004). Culturally congruent strategies for addressing the behavioral needs of urban African-American male adolescents.Professional School Counseling, 8, 236–243.
38.
PriesterP., JonesJ., Jackson-BaileyC.,Jana-MasriA., JordanE., & MetzA. (2008). An analysis of content and instructional strategies in multicultural counseling courses.Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 36, 29–39.
39.
RitchieM., & PartinR. (1994). Referral practices of school counselors.School Counselor, 41, 283–293.
40.
RobertsR., AlegriaM., RobertsC., & ChenI. (2005). Mental health problems of adolescents as reported by their caregivers: A comparison of European, African, and Latino Americans.Behavioral Health Service Research, 32, 1–13.
41.
SeidmanI. (1991). Interviewing and qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences.New York: Teacher's College Press.
42.
SimpsonG., ScottG., & HendersonM. (2002). Estimates of attention, cognitive, and emotional problems, and health service use by U.S. school age children. In ManderscheidR. & HendersonM. (Eds.), Mental health, United States, 2002 (pp. 105–117).Washington, DC:U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
43.
TakeuchiD., BuiK., & KimL. (1993).The referral of minority adolescents to community mental health centers.Journal of Social Behavior, 34, 153–164.
44.
ToporekR., & Pope-DavisD. (2005). Exploring the relationship between multi-cultural training, racial attitudes, and attributions of poverty among graduate counseling trainees.Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 11, 259–271.
45.
WertzF. (2005). Phenomenological research methods for counseling psychology.Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 167–177.
46.
West-OlatunjiC.,BakerJ., & BrooksM. (2006).African American adolescent males: Giving voice to their educational experience.Multicultural Perspectives, 8(4), 3–9.
47.
WintersW. (1993). African-American mothers and urban schools.New York: Lexington Books.
48.
WolcottH. (1990). On seeking and rejecting validity in qualitative research. In EisnerE. & PeshkinA. (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry in education: Continuing the debate (pp. 121–152). New York: Teachers College Press.
