A Critique of the Concept of "Contingency Power."

Autor/in	Lichtenberg, James W.
Titel	A Critique of the Concept of "Contingency Power."
Quelle	(1987), (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Stellungnahme; Counseling Theories; Counselor Client Relationship; Power Structure; Social Control + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Soziale Kontrolle
Abstract	Most theory and research on power and social influence in counseling and psychotherapy has focused on the power base and power outcome domains of Olson's (1972) framework which viewed power as a generic concept consisting of the three domains of power base, power process, and power outcome. Statistical approaches to the study of power, influence, and dominance have been developed which fall under the heading of sequential analysis. These approaches see counselor and client responses as being both causes of later events and results of earlier ones. Analyzing power and influence in counseling in terms of the relative degrees of contingency among counselor and client responses seems to be a natural approach. An alternative view to that operationalized by usual approaches to sequential analysis proposes that, rather than earlier events pushing later events into existence, later events may draw earlier events into existence. By taking this approach and computing conditional probabilities in the backward direction, the question becomes one of understanding the possible behavioral sequences that all end up at the same place. Power should not be defined in such a way as to include all causal or contingent relations between interactants, regardless of intentions, because if that were the case, then all human interaction would be a matter of power. In examining human interactions, it is important to accept the fact that human relationships, including counseling relationships, are possible apart from power struggles. (NB)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC