DOCUENT RESUNE

ED 098 449 CG 009 096

AUTHOR Wrenn, C. Gilbert
TITLE Values and Counseling in Different Countries and
Cultures.
PUB DATE Apr 74
NOTE 22p.; Paper presented at the International Round
Table on the Advancement of Counseling (6th,
Cambridge University, England, April 1974)
EDRS PRICE HP-$0.75 HC-$1.50 PLUS POSTAGE
DESCRIPTORS *Attitudes; Clinging Attitudes; Comparative Analysis;
*Counseling; *Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural
Differences; *Education; Speeches; *Values
ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes changes in seven value areas
where there is sharp conflict between the prevailing culture and the
counter-culture and where the conflict is of considerable
significance to the counselor: (1) response to authority; (2) the
value of the past experience of adults; (3) status of women; (4) work
and leisure; (5) sexual dimensions of life; (6) nature of security,
nature of occupational choice; and (7) the implications for
counseling of each value shift. Comparison is made between value
changes in the United States and value trends in 16 other countries.
(Author)
 a

UNIVERbIDAD SIMON BOLIVAR

DLCANATO DL ESTUDIOS DE POSTGRADO
CURSOS DE POSTGRADO EN PS1COLOGIA

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nIFFER1NT COUNTRIES 'ID CULTL:.._

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4
OF` * Presentotl at the Sixth International nuuc
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the Advaquement of Counseling; Cambric!gc
bnglondo april 7.11.1974! This will be ,

the Round Table Proceedings and elsewhev, No

of this to be duplicated without permit

author
 UNIVERSIDAD SIMON BOLIVAR
DECANATO DE ESTUDIOS DE POSTGRADO
CURSOS DE POSTGRADO EN PSICOLOGIA.

VALUES AND COUNSELING IN DIFFERENT

COUNTRIES AND CULTURES
C. GILBERT WRENN
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
U.S.A.

If you were to group all of the nations of the world into two
parts you would find each in a state of values conflict; and of
times the conflict is violent. The developing nations, on the .
one hand, are on a crash program to develop their industry and
their technology and in so doing they are rapidly adopting some
of the traditional values of the industrial nations, such as
"unlimited growth", "more and more of everything", "the bigger
the better". On the other hand, the technologically developed -
nations are struggling with a shift from being bureaucratic and
thing-oriented societies to becoming nations which pince n hi"h
value on the quality of living and the importance of people as
persons. Neither of these kinds of changes is abrupt and com-
plete; rather they are, to use a motion picture analogy, dis-
solving, fadiag in from one value emphasis to the other. In -

this dissolving process peopl become confused. They see the -

situation as ambiguous, they cling to familiar past values wh1L
being pushed to an acceptance of the unfamiliar new values. They -.
struggle to maintain the past while living in the present and
facing a rapidly changing world can be frightening indeed. Lu a
book published in 1973, entitled 112a111212a2LEEtapal (Keyes 9

1973), the author writes that our society longs for a sense of
community, for a comfortable sense of being with people who know
us and accept us. At the same time, we desire other things even
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more, such as privacy*, 301.21.1.1.1x. and convenience. Yet these vitl-

ues are antithetical to a sense of community, of being involve:.
with others, particularly with our neighbors.
And so the struggle goes on and the counselor is in the,
midst of it. He or she may counsel with adults who find the new
values and expectations uncomfortable and threatening. Lie may -
counsel with young people who are torn between loyalty to ?he:

values instilled in them by their parents and what they see (I :;

Lhe realities of the present. Perhaps most of all the counselox

struggle,3 with himself' for he, too, has value convictions iiNlt

are unlike those of his clients, whether younger or older, AL0

question is, can he maintain his own values without projectine:

these personal values into the all-too-impressionable value .

structure of his client?

This paper is based upon what I see as value changes And
nhange.s in counseling in the United States of America as °Om--
pared with changes reported to me from professional colleague,
in sixteen other countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada. the
public of China, Czechoslavakia, England, Egypt, India, Iran
Ja.1441J, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, the Republic of Souta
z,weden, Venezuela, Yugoslavia). I feel sure of my cou--
cluf3ions regarding changes in the United ..:trues because I have
iven rather intensivo study to the subject over a period of -
everai years. Of course, my conclxv,ions crom what I have resit;
e au,>,;c:ctives On the other hand, tAa1 1 cuiked 0' ny cfol-
a.!. I )

clague in the other countries was thell i:apreionf; of value

ehani;e..; in seven of the twelve valn every, that I analyzed 11

roceat boo;., The World of the c rtat emiorir Counselqr

:renn, i!y.0). They often felt uxAt ti,th f e in aCIllet'.tliAl TIE;
staf.ment to their entire country. r',poct that ui.(!alt .
'1

la-t.;. ised them anonymity. These wore careitilly :4c1;:ettl

.poople whom I know p:)rso.kally. ,tine were former iti--

dent The number is small, fan6in,., From only

four in each country.
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.3.
tea :. able to utilize information from four other inter-
national studies. One was alajravax2LIEumau (Yoshigato
1973), conducted in 1972 by the Youth Bureau of the Prime Hin-
ister's office in Japan, a Ludy of the responses of 22,000 -
youth 18-24 years of age in eleven countries. Seven of these
eleven countries were the same as those which istudied.-
The se.,ond was not a study of youth but 'If guidance de
velopments in eighteen countries, a study pubiliixed in 1:)6!) for
UNESCO by a most esteemed colleague, Richard Bert:rand of Brussel:-
(Bertrand, i96)). A third was a special 1973 is; sue or 1112.1124.,J.
Cuidance Lorl:,or (see references), published by the Guidance Cen
ter of the i:ni%orsity of Toronto, Canada, containing reports oil
Guidance deveic,pments in eight countries. The iuurth WRt a ltprj
UNL:IGO study by Pierre Dominic6entitled outy.....aajWiaeLaatio:
ssFauktatelEgaleat (Dominica 197:$).
The mot recent report I have soon on youth and their -
values in the United states is a study made during last summer
of 2b,000 high school students who are listed in Who's Who an
American hi h ,choel Studeat (Who's WhO,, ly7")). Obviously -

this is a selected sample of students who rank very high in oc-

adeLlic performance.
A complete reference citation to each al' these studies -
is 1-rovided at the end of this paper. It Is obvious that bc-
cause of time limitations l will be able to cite only a few -

fact or conclusion: from these studies, but you should know

that. J was influenced by them as well as the study which i con-
ducted.
The value areas selected for study are tho:e which secm...:
mo.i, appropriate to an audience deeply comet/Led uith counseli2t.
in vixious parts of the world. These value area:, are:
73 1. One's response to authority
1004 2. The value placed upon the past experience eE
adults
5-5 3. 't lie status of women in the society of uhiciL -

they are a part

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.4.
5-2 4. The assumption that work is a virtue Attd
leisure must be Justified
8-3 5. Assumtions regarding the sexual dimension
life
5 -4 6. The nature of security
3 ? 7. Thi. nature of occupational choice

One's Response to Authority

The prevailing concept is that parents have authority

over their children, that teachers have authority over their ,111

dents, that officers of the law have authority over citizens

One respects authority and responds to it, even though at Litiwt
reluctantly. The prevailing concept is that unless one rehpeci..
such authority, the family crumbles, the school becomes a
blest and society disentegrates. This attitude is held by ifi-

;llost. all adults and some youth.

Referrin now to th= United St test there is a sizeable
minority of youth who do not accept this unqualified respect -
for authority. In some situations this minority becomes a ma-
jority. Such youth, and I am speaking here of those within
ci range of roughly 15 to 25 years, question the wisdom of -

their elder:, in assuming authority over them. They may accept -

such ithwrfty. but with suspicion and resentment, sometimes -
covt;rt, :,ollu;uimes acted out, It has always been thus with youaL,
4ut 1. evidence to suggest that the past decade ov
.ji.:,od more doubt and more overt resentment than in -
rocio:.; ,;onerations. The home smothers them, the school is a

t'ociety doesn't understand their needs and their -

:;rowlni; ran cat independence. So it is with the young aad au-
tltor.i ty.--

In countriest there was a wide range of re.pon:hc.

-
.dace I canr,,i quote each statement I have sorted them into
three group,-(1) those whose responses seemed closest to
"growing e0t.," of what I had described as the situation in she
United States, (2) those furthest from our situation and ( ;)the
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-5-
inevitable middle group where the situation seemed neither close
to nor far from my impressions of the United States youth
wonder if you could guess those closest to the United States in
the matter of response to authority? (pause) Canada, India, Jag
an, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Sweden and Venezuela e -
Those furthest away (most responsive to authority) appear to be
Lgypt, Iran and South Africa. (In South Africa it is the Af--
rikaaas--whites of Dutch descent, the African black, the Indian
and the colored populationswho are seen responsible to author-
ity and tradition. The English-speaking Whites are reported as
less so) The middle group, where the responses were somewhat -
indeterminate and cautious, consisted of Australia, Belgium ft

Czechoslovakia, the Republic of China, Er and Yugoslavia.

It is interesting to note in the Japanese-initiated stud
of youth in eleven countries that I mentioned earlier, the
question was asked, "If you are dissatisfied with society,'what
:tttitude do you think you would take?" Fifty-four per cent or

the United States respondents said that they would "actively re

Sort to a variety of measures so long as the means are permitted
by law".This is substantially higher than any other country ex-
cept .A4itzorland with 46 per cent reporting an activist attitude.
Japan, Lngland and Sweden had about 10 per cent less than
7,witzerlond.-
The implications of this value shift for counseling arc
aot cluicr except for one conclusion. In those societies, or ever
sub- cultures, where there is suspicion or
authority, the counse
for would be more effective if he were not a part of the admin-
istrative hierarchy. This is not easy to achieve, since the ad.
ministro.tor may see the counselor as part of his administrative
staff. Beyond this, the counselor himself may have overt or cov
ert ambitions to be a part of the power structure. But in the -
developing societies where social change L.:. rapid or in socially
repreesett and resentful societies, the
effectiveness of the cow
seling relationship may be seriously reduced if the counselor -
is seen as an 4uthority figure.
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Value Emphasis Placed upon Past Experience of Adults

The prevailing concept 0' Iults is that the young should
profit from the past experience u2 their elders. The chilhood
experiences and work experiences of parents are frequently and
earnestly passed on to children and youth. The parent or the -
teacher wants to be helpful, to have the youth avoid the mistdkas
he made or to do the "right" thing as the adult had found it to
be right. -
In th, United Statesi there is a considerable tendency -
for the young to pay little attention to the past experiences
of the adult. "One learns from sxperiences," yes, but urlre from
one's own experience than from that of ever-concerned adults.
The reason si simple, the world of the adult:Ls not the world -
the youth is living in today and yesterday's experiences may ha
ve only a limited value for youth. There has always been this -
questioniPg of the adult's past experience, but the more rapid
the social and or technological change in a society, the greater
the gap between yesterday and today. It is often cruelly true
that the childhood and early work experiences of the adult with
which he wishes to help the youth are a long distance from the
present world of which the youth is keenly aware.
laallagt there is again a range, but ten of -
the sixteen countries report youthful response to past experi
ence as similar to that seen in the United States - Australia it

Belgium, Canada, England, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Sweden

Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The past is revered only in Iran. I
am keenly conscious of the fact that in this grouping of re-
spouses from the various countries I am dependent only upon my
subjective determination of the written responses. For a few -
countries my personal knowledge of the country has aided the ta
terpretation.
The implications for counseling in this area seem obvi -
°us. The counselor must be aware of his tendency to reason from
past experience. Counseling clients may listen politely to the

0
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.7w

coun6elorls recital of "what I have learned, "but the time may

be largely wasted. In fact, it is difficult for the counselor
to see ,how his pat world compares with the glilmttaammat -
world.
It seems to me that the safe way is to focus upon the
present and possible future. No matter how hard we strive to

do this, the past will intrude more than is Justified. To be

sure, we have all learned from our pasts, but how much of what
we have learned fits the present? "Aye, there's the rub".

The Status of Women in the Society

of Which They Are a Part

The prevailing concept is that of woman as mother and

hommemaker. The hysband is the chief breadwinner and men are in
primary positions of authority and responsibility: a "masculine
society."
of equality
In_i.thetW.,...tec....12,..IStess there is rapid growth,

between men and women AOMO areas of society, though income

discriminations are still large. Recent laws providing legal
equality have been passed or are pending; we are beginning to
accept woman as a person in her own right, equal to man.
It is interesting to note that the highly selected U.S.
A. 102212.4121aufighlaul group come on very strong for the
equal status of women in our society. (Parenthetically, I di-
grefin to comment on the Womelps Rights Amendment to the United
i-Itates Constitution. At this date of writing the Amendment has
00en approved by state legislatures in 33 states out of the 38
needed to confirm it. This Amendment gives married wom-
. en, for example, complete equality with their husbands in all
ici;a1 and economic matters. In 1964 the Civil fights Law be-
cwac effective, establishing equal pay for women and men in -
Lae z-,,Lme job.) Now back to the youth study. Seventytwo per cent
or t!lo la lot Who high school juniors and seniors support the
Lquol Rights Amendment and 98 per cent the equal pay law. ..iev-
enty-five per cent would vote for a qualified woman as pro :ii
dential candidate. This Who's Who group is a select group and
 OUT COPY AVAILABLE

.8.
might be found for the
these aro probably higher figures than
students or the adult population.
full range of high school
economic discris
In spite of the 1964 law there is still
professions and the academic realm
ination against women. In the
of the American -
for example, Women in Psychology--a committee
(Report, 1973), indicates that women
P:,ycholoalcal Association
make up 37 per cent of the instructor
rank, in university depart
of the 1:11042rillam,
monts of p4=ychology, but only 7 per cent a
are apparently
rank. This is true even though faculty women
cent or psychology faculty .
highly selected group--only 10 per
cent of the doctorates are awarded
are yomen, although 25 per
or the departments reported -
to women. As to salary, one-third
higher salaries as every academic rank except for
that men have
vagueness about leave
that of instructor. Nepotism rules and
discriminate against women. The situ
for pregnant mothers also
improving, but the improvement starts from a fairly low
tion is
level.
expected grouping
Ia other countries: there is an almost
changes in the United States: They are
of those resembling the
and Yugoslavia. Those
Australia, Canada Czechoslovakia, Sweden
States trends the least appear
apparently resembling the United
Ireland, South Africa and Venezue-
to be India, Japan, Northern
countries gave me mixed signals
in. Responses from the other
women in 122.20121wala
Certainly in Belgium, England and Iran
attention and rights.
levels are visibly gaining in equal
for counselors of thez;e shifts in the -
Me implications
crystal clear. Present wom-
status or women in any society are
be well know by the counselor -
on's rights and options should
be given full support in utilizing them. It is
and his clients
suspect that both men and women counselors may be
reasonable to
their younger women clients
reluctant to accept the fact that
rights than they had at the same
have more opportunities and
unconsciously traditional and limiting -
age. Connectors can be
-
with regard to young women. They can discourage
in many ways
some occupations because "so few
girls and women from entering

11)
 am 9

women are presently employed in that occupation". Studies in our

country indicate that fewer and fewer girls and women normally,
choose occupations in the fields commonly thought to be those
most suitable for women--secretarial, teaching, nursing, libraL
ian, etc. This disturbs some counselors and they attempt to en.
courage or persuade girls to enter the traditionally "respecta-
ble" fields for women. Other ce...aaselors may be troubled when a
girl states that she does not expect to marry, either presently
or at any time. Thus aversive reinforcement is all too frequen-
tly demonstrated.
I do not see counselors as necessarily fighting for wom-
en's rights, although it would be entirely appropriate.
What I do see as essential for each counselor is. that he
oppose the common steretype of woman's "expected" place in the
-
world and that he or she provide for women clients the same
range of occupational and social options that he provides for -
men clients. What matter if it is harder for women to get into
some occupations or that some women do not include marriage in
their plans? These are the problems of the client, not the coun
selor. The counselor's role is to provide, ungrudgingly, wide -
options of choice and to be informed about woman's occupational
world in a positive sense, not a negative one.

The Assumption that Work Is a Virtue

and that Leisure Must Be Justified

The prevailing concept among at least the older members

of our society is that work of any kind is a virtue and that lei
sure must be justifiedthe meaning of work is less important -
than the fact of works everyone should work and "leisure is
-

loafing ".
la4...3.ttatheUs the meaning of work is important -
to young people. The extent to which it contributes to human
-

welfare is stressed by many youth those from less affluent fend

lies question work for its own sake, feel that family or socie-
con-
ty owes them some support. Leisure, on the other hand, is
 -10-
sidered important for creative and personal purposes.
lamsamaggaSsAut in the concepts or work and leisure
there is a large commonality between youth of the United States
and those of Australia, Canada, England, Sweden and Yugoslavia.
These conwepts appeared in rather sharp contrast with those
ported from Egypt and Iran. The picture is somewhat less clear
with regard to the responses form the remaining countries of
the study. The placement of Sweden and Yugoslavia in the greater
leisure group is supported in the Japanese study. One statement,
"Money is for spending and not for saving," is accepted by 85 -
per cent of the Yugoslavian youth and 80 per cent of the Swedish
than frm
youth. These are far higher percentages of acceptance
any other of the eleven countries..
There are sharp contrasts in concepts of work an leisure
Profes-
among different segments of any society. I am sure that
Am
sor Halmos will deal such sub,culture contrasts in his latex
per. Some youth are able to think about the differential mean-.
ingfulneF,s of various occupations because they have a supportive,
family. do not have to have a job at any price, have reached
-
the upper levels of educational exploration or, for these or
other reasons, simply want their lives to count for something.
These young people will pause and question whether all virtue .
have
is bound up with work and none associated with leisure. I
just returned from a colloquium on work held by the Institute -
of Higher Studies in Brussels and at which I spoke on "The Psy-
chological Dimensions of 1211 and Leisure". It is this binding
together of work and leisure in one's day or week to which I
think the counselor can contribute. For the older generation it
may be that work must remain the focus or living and the way
out is to broaden "work" to mean both employed activity and waMic
which is meaningful but not paid for.
But for many in the world, and the number is increasing
job--gives
in the industrialized societies, employed work--the
little personal satisfaction or meaning to life. If the ccunse
lor's client is to see meaning in life, it will be because the

12
counselor helps his client plan for total living, of which the
occupation is only a part. If the counselor perceives his task
to be limited to helping° his client to finding only an occupy
tion, then the client will expect the occupation to be his sole
concern in life. In many occupations, he will be greatly disil
lusioned by the reality and be ill prepared to face it. The .
counselor has not discharged his full responsibility when this
occurs. He should have helped his client see the satisfactions
to be gotten from the occupation. If satisfactions are limited
indeed in a given occupation, he should have helped the client
focus upon and train for non-employed experiences which could
bring meaning into life, meaning of either a creative nature -
or that which contributes to the welfare of others.
Other youth in any country, and again they are many, do
not look for meaning--they only want a job and some economic -
security. They do not see that they have the privilege of look
ing for meaningful work. They need a job for survival purpose.
Jet it is these youth and adults who are likely to end up with
a routine or dead-end job. Life becomes drab for them if the
job is all they have, or they drift from job to job, looking
for "something better". Had the counselor helped these people
to see beyond the job to a meaningful use of leisure in their
lives, the picture would be brighter. Otherwise, it is a can -
of beer and the T.V. at night and a marginal or even degrading
job during the day. Life als be richer than that. The counselor,
even the "vocational" counselor, can help bring it about. This
is true vocational counseling, planning for a vocation, a life,
of which the occupation is only a part. Clients often expect -
great things of us. Can we live up to greatness?
I paused at this point in the writing of this paper and
decided that I did not have adequate time to be equally expli-
cit in the treatment of the other three value areas. So allow
me to present only a highly condensed version of the next three
value areas.

14
 -12-
Assumptions Regarding the Sexual Dimensions of Life

12111241PLAULLIEL most young people consider sexual

behavior as normal for pleasure and in increasing the richness
of life: reproduction is secondary and should be planned.
In ether countries: the responses from 8 countries suggest
an agreement with the statement above-Australia, Belgium, Czech
oslovakia, England, South Africa (English-speaking whites) ,Salem
Venezuela, Yugoslavia. Much more traditional sexual behaviors -
were indicated by the responses from Egypt, India and Northern
Ireland. Japan's study of the youth in eleven countries gives
some support to this grouping. To the statement "Premarital sex
relations are all right even if the parties concerned are not -
in love", the highest proportion accepting was for the youth in
Sweden (40 per cent), while the lowest proportion was in India
(5 per cent). Vance Packard's book, The Sexual Wilderness
( Packard, 1968), suggests that American Youth are more conserve,
Live in sexual behavior than are the youth of several other cam
tries--Germany, England and Norway, for example.
Why is this a value area of concern to the counselor? Far
the same reasons given in the discussion of the women's status,
the rigidity of the counselor's attitudes. This is an area where
older have al-
the taboos are particularly strong and where the
to ha
ways disagreed with the younger. So counselors are likely
ve a particularly strong set in this area and if this set shows
al"-
the relationship between counselor and client is adversely
footed.-
Beyond this, both men and women who find homosexual roki
tionships and behaviors satisfying are now surfacing
and find.
will again
ing it possible to become visible. Here the counselor
There are
have to face his attitudes. There are no homosexuals.
in
people, with homosexual feelings, who may or may not engage
homosexual behavior, but seldom if ever should the total person
himself or herself has
be labeled homosexual. The counselor who
heterosexual feelings is likely to feel uneasy or even repelled
by someone he thinks is "a homosexual". He is strongly condi---
-
tioned by his society to think that only hater sexuality is

14
"natural" all else is unnatural or abnormal. Yet homosexual .
behavior can seldom be detected by even careful observation. -

People you pass on the street every day or who are respected -
guests in your home may have homosexual feelings or engage in -
homosexual behavior, yet you be completely unaware of it. This
is as it should be. The sexual behavior of a client is really -
none of the average counselor's business.
The counselor, of all people, should use great care not
to allow his sexual feelings and superstitions to reduce the -
quality of the counseling relationship or the amount of assist-
ance he can give to the client. Young people are currently quite
open about their sex attitudes and even behavior. The older adult
who is the counselor should not permit the impact of this open-
ness upon his more traditional attitudes to impair the counseling
relationship, whether it be primarily vocational, educational -
or therapeutic.

The Nature of Security

atheUni,.... youth in particular question the --

adequacy of such traditional security criteria rat money in the
bank, insurance against illness or unemployment, etc.; even the
poor are uncertain of the constant value of more because of in-
flations some youth at all levels seek security within themselves
as to purpose and usefulness.
In the other_ couqtriest the agreement with the above was
rather sparse-.only the responses from Australia, Belgium, Cana
de, Sweden and Yugoslavia seemed to harmonize with what I had -
described as a tend in the United States. The responses from -
Egypt, the Republic of China, India and South Afirca stressed -
economic security the most in some countries economic and
health security are subsidised by the national goverment -
(ter example, bngland, Csechoslovakia, Sweden and Yugoslavia) .
some of my correspondents from these countries feel that al-
though youth may be relieved of outer security, they are not -
seeking inner security. This has not been my experience. When a
young person occasionally lets down his guard and permits you -
to share his inner self with him, you find that he LE seeking -
 -14-
the possession of things and
for something more real to him than
illness. This is more true, of
insurance against starvation or
countries than in the de-
course, in the industrially developed
Here star-
veloped countries.
protec-
vation and death are often very near and security means
tion against them. -
study of youth
Let me cite a few items from the Japanese
wisdom will -
which bear upon security. To the statement "Human
the youth in the majority -
avoid another World War" about half
security seemed apparent in
of the countries agreed. But more
(80 per cent), with Brazil
four of the countries -Yugoslavia
The least optimistic youth
India and Japan following closely.
statement "We will have a better so
were in Switzerland. To the
Yugoslavia felt the
ciety to live in 30 years from now," again
agreeing with the statement.
greatest security, with 85 per cent
France and -
Lowest in such a belief were those in Switzerland,
Sweden.
statement "One should not
The range of agreement to the
affairs of friends" was from 69
get too deeply involved in the
(France). To the question "Are
per cent (Japan) to 12 per cent
75 per cent of the Japanese .
you a believer in any religion?"
interst in religion." At
youth chose the alternative "Have no
the youth of the Philippines -
the other end of the scale were
and India, with a high interest in religion.
society, sharing -
All of these choices- -peace, a better
of a religious faith- -
oneself with friends, and the possession
The world-wide situation is
are dimensions of inner security.
various reasons is most apparent.
complex indeed, but change for
herself, "What is my greatest
The counselor can ask himself or
differen--.
security--and can I allow my clients to see security
tly than I do?
 The Nature of Occupational Choice

In the United States: the impermanence of many °coupe--

tions is assumed; one prepares carefully but with the tendency
to assume that this may not last, that one will change occupa..
tione several times during one's life; that depth of preparation
must be accompanied by sensitiveness to change; that what you -
learn is less important than knowing how to learn the new and -
the changing.
I may have written this statement of trends as more of a
generalization than is justified. Either that or the situation
in the United States is indeed different, for only Australia
Belgium and Sweden reported conditions at all similar to ours.
Most respondents balked on the assumed impermanence of occupa--
tions, stating that their youth made choices more frequently on
assumptions of life permanence.
A minor tendency was reported from some countries for -
youth to mix schooling and job experience or to "stop out" for
a time gain job experience, reassess their goals, or recoup fi-
nancially. In our country this is a fairly common practice. In
my home university, Arizona State University, a recently com-
pleted study shows that 15 per cent of the freshmen withdraw -
during their first year, but almost all return after a time. In
1972-73, for example, 2,100 freshmen withdrew, but 2,200 former
withdrawals returned that same year. These are beginning to be
called "stop-outs" rather than "drop-outs." Our Student Counse-
ling Center reports more freshmen and more seniors seeking a
counselor than any other group, freshmen because of the strain
of a new environment and the seniors because they are leaving a
familiar environment and facing a new one.
Counselors in all countries which are subject to frequent
industrial, technological and social changes can help their ell
ants face the reality of a shifting occupational emphasis. Tem-
porary changes are frequently found during the upheavals of a
nation at war. The world-wide energy crisis is a different matter.
Large reductions in some occupations and bulges in others will
not all be temporary. In the United States, for example, the .
layoff of hundreds of thousands of workers from automobile com
panies manufacturing large ears and from airplane factories
(fewer scheduled flights) will not be temporary because our en
orgy crisis is not temporary. Most of these workers must reas-
sess and retrain. Thousands of elementary school teachers must
retrain also, as the birth rote declines. The role of middle -
management in business is changed radically in companies where
there is large-scale use of computers for operations and devel
opment functions. Some middle management workers cannot adjust
to the change and they, too, must relocate.
All of these changes and the appearance annually of hun
dreds of new occupations should cue in the counselors to help
clients plan for change. This planning, of course, is related
to the plarmins for work and leisure discussed earlier.-

A Glance at Counseling Changes

and a Concluding Statement
I had hoped to comment on counseling changes in various
countries, but that would amount to another paper. I had provid
ed a brief summary of changes in counseling in the United States
to which respondents in other countries would react. This --
,thumbnail sketch of the growing edge of counseling in the thited
States comments upon counselors who work with groups as much as
with individuals, groups in which the counselor facilitates -

each member of the group to learn about himself from other;coun

eelors who try to understand "the world of the client" in order
to understand the client's values and pressures; counselors in
schools who work help teachers as well as students, helping -

teachers with inter-personal relationship problems in the class

room; counselors who try to help students see school experienma
in their relation to the out-of-school education of the student;
"vocational counseling" that is seen more often a° "career coin,
 -17-

soling" ; life goals and satisfactions are stressed, with occuga

tional choice " only a part of the whole.
In fairly general terms I can report that counseling
changes in Canada and Sweden resemble those taking place in the
United States. In almost half of the countries the developments
do not resemble those in the United States (Czechoslovakia, B.
gypt, Iran, Northern Ireland, South Africa and Yugoslavia. I am
not suggesting that they should resemble ours. Each society de-
velops counseling out of its own political., educational, and so-
cial structure. I can report only upon some of the counseling
developments in the United States that are useful for us and -
that they have developed out of the changing value structures -
that we have reported upon. Whether what we are doing is help--
ful to the counseling needs of any other country, certainly not
by us. I have participated in the beginning stages of counseling
in several countries, England, China and South Africa for exam-
ple, and in each case have followed the principle that it is -
-
wrong to assume that what is good for us is necessarily good
for anyone else. I can describe our succoisses anafailures, but
A-
I am loathe to suggest what these mean for another culture.
gain speaking of sub-cultures in our own society, we have found
-
that counselors for the-various ethnic cultures or the inner
city culture should be drawn from that particular sub-culture
We have learned this painfully at times and it has made me sen-
-
sitive about cultural differences and the danger of imposing
our values upon the people of another country. -
This report makus clear that value changes occur the eosin
soling patterns that develop to meet these changes vary widely
from country to country. Changes that appear to be similar to -
thobe in the United States are found in ten countries of this -
study in the value area of "authority" and in nine countries in
the value area of "sex attitudes and behaviors". Yet the counft
ling developments appear to be similar in only the two countries
just mentioned, Canada and Sweden. A side comment of some inter-
est to me is that value changes in Sweden appear to be similar
to changes in the United States in all seven areas studied. Aus
 .18-
tralia follows, with similarities in six areas, Canada and Yu
goslavia in five.
As I have read the survey, of counseling mentioned at the
beginning of this paper and have reflected upon the data of my -
own study, a caaclusion known to all of you is very apparent--- -
counseling begins in most countries as vocational guidance. For
some the next step is to include educational guidance. And for
some countries the development of counseling has not gone beyond
this stage. I believe that counseling should, develop beyond the
vocational guidance level. There are other areas of human need
that are just as important as the choice of an occupation. partic
ularly in schools and colleges, these other areas may be of mgre
inmediate importance to the student-client. Some of these neede
are suggested in the values areas included in this paperpothers
are discussed in my book earlier mentioned. eoclkr....LzLLzfa.iean-
mpteoraxun. As times change, needs change, needs that -
are different from those can be met by any ever-so-good vocation
al guidance system.
Let me conclude on a more forward-looking note. My com-
ments upon man's slowness in accepting the reality of change and
acting upon it could be seen as the reactions of a pessimist.
Far from it I am more confident than ever that man will make it,
slowly, painfully, with many plateaus of stagnation and regres-
sion, but relentlessly moving forward. He has in the past and he
has done so by focussing upo,i images of the future. This is how
man has always moved from chaos to organization, from brutality
to islands of beauty and incidents of great compassion. He has
done this by dreaming on the future and having those images be-
come his motivation to activity; by having today's fantasy be-
come tomorrow's reality. To focus only on the present is as -

clearly suicidal as to focus only on the past. "Man is the only

animal able to pass the frontier of present reality", one human
ist writes (Polak, 1973). We will shape the future by our pre-
sent images or we will die as a world. We have dreamed and sated

20
 .19.
upon our dreams before--we will do it again.-

REFERENCES
Bertrand, Richard. Notes nWeleottommjamasamizatts
of Vocational qmAtamm. (Mimeographed), 1969. (18A, ru de
Loverol Chatelet, Belgique.)
Dominick, Pierre. To Poo lets Att des toward choll the
Adult World and Employment (Mimeographed). A UNESCO Stud
y, 1973. (Ecoli de Peychologie et des Sciences de 11 -
Education, University of Geneva, Switzerland.)
Keyes, Ralph. We. the Lonely People. Harper and Row, Publish
ers, 1973. (10 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y., 10022,
U.S.A.) (Condensed in The Intellectual Direst, December
1973, pp. 25 -33. Martin Godman, Editor, 110 East 59th -
Street, New York, N.Y., 10022, U.S.A.)
Packard, Vance. The David McKay Co., Inc.,
1968. (750 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10017, U.S.A.)
Polak, Fred L. "Responsibility for the Future" The Humanist
1973, 22, 14 -16. Paul Kurtz, Editor. (State University
of New York at Buffalo, 4244 Ridge Lea Road, Amherst ,
New York, 14226, U.S.A.)
"Report of the Task Force on the Status of Women in Pay-
chology," American Psyphplomist, 1973, 28, 611.616.
Kenneth B. Little, Editor. (The American Psychological -
Association, 1200 Seventeenth Street, N.Y., Washington
D.C., 20036, U.S.A.) (See also same issue, pp. 621.623 ,
"How Strong Is the Feminine Drive to High Position?")
The School Guidance Workfr. September-October 1973 issue. C.L.
Bedell, Editor. (The Guidance Center, University of Torontql
1000 Yong Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4W 2K8.)
Who's Who among AmorJTcan MO School Stvdente. Educational Com-
munications, 1973. (540 Frontage Road, Northfield,
Illinois, 60093, U.S.A.)
Wrenn, Cs Gilbert. The Wor149talga 'Vta NM= Counselor.
Houghton Mifflin Publishing Co., 1973. (110 Tremont Street,
Boston, Massachusetts, 02107, U.S.A.)
Yolhigato, Hunios mgamatALlotaaw from the Youth World
Survey Reports Youth Bureau, Prime Minister's Office, -a..
1973. (1-6.1 Nagata.oho, Chiyoda.ku, Tokyo, 100, Japan)