Week 3

            I found it interesting how much I could directly relate to the social cognitive career theory (SCCT).  As I wrote my response paper about my family tree, I was able to identify multiple ways my environment has molded me.  For example, the environment of my high school influenced my decision to possibly pursue an education in art.  I was part of the Art Honors Society and this was a way for me to do something I was good at and get praised for it as well.  I enjoy art, especially sculpture, but it was not necessarily what I wanted to do with my life.  The positive reinforcement from my teachers fueled my enthusiasm, tying in with the fact that people’s self-efficacy encourage them to do things they believe they will produce positive and successful results (Brown, 2007). 

            As you probably noticed in class, I struggled with understanding the perceived simplicity of getting parents involved in their children’s lives and career development.  I do not believe this task is ever an easy task and feel that we tend to overlook the real world sometimes when we grow up in “normal” households.  This week, I had a client who recently said “what is normal?  Normal is just a setting on the washing machine, there is not real-world normal.” This quote illustrates the reality that what we think most parents do, is really the picture perfect aspect, when in reality, few people fit the standards of everyday involvement with their children.  Some parents may not be able to be involved, do not care to be involved, or may even become to involved, pressing the child into a career path they do not truly desire.  62.8% of children are neglected ("American humane association," 2013).  With this statistic, I feel it is important we realize how difficult it is to truly get parents involved in their children’s lives.  Of course we may be able to reach out to some families and help them understand the importance of career development with great effort, time, money, and a large number of counselors.  Basically, I hope that we can learn to work around parent involvement to better help (more efficiently) the children who need to learn about careers, not what there parents have or have not done.

            On the contrary, I am not completely against parent involvement.  I just know you do not have to be in the lower SES and have parents who are on welfare to have parents who do not have much support in your career development.  Here is a link you may find interesting about how to get parents involved (although I am still very weary of the results and reliability of the involvement).  http://www.education.com/reference/article/ways-know-more-do-more/

            Overall, Duffy’s (2006) writing brought me back to multicultural counseling.  Although I stand more on the agnostic side, I believe it is absolutely valuable information to always take into account when trying to understand another human being.  I found it interesting that job satisfaction is correlated with spirituality and religion.  Within the realm of career development, we need to be mindful of other people’s reasoning behind one thing or another and help that person develop in a path that is meaningful to that particular person.

References

American humane association: child abuse and neglect statistics. (2013). Retrieved from    http://www.americanhumane.org/children/stop-child-abuse/fact-sheets/child-    abuse-and-neglect-statistics.html.

Brown, D. (2007).  Career information, career counseling, and career development  (9^h ed.).  New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Duffy, R. D. (2006). Spirituality, religion, and career development: Current status and future directions. The Career Development Quarterly, 55, 55-63.