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Browsing by Author "Fagan, Marilyn M."

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    The effects of vocational group counseling on adaptive behavior at work with moderately mentally retarded adults residing in group homes
    Fagan, Marilyn M. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1983)
    This study brings vocational career group counseling with moderately mentally retarded adults in focus as a viable method of increasing vocational awareness and performance. Recently, much of the literature in the field of the handicapped has had as a theme the issue of deinstitutionalization. The purpose of deinstitutionalization of moderately mentally handicapped adults is to return them to a meaningful lifestyle complete with a range of career choices based on a thorough assessment of their vocational or prevocational skills. Despite the many studies generated in the field of public education for the school-aged handicapped individual, relatively few research studies have undertaken vocational counseling with an adult mentally retarded population residing in group homes. This investigation sought to determine whether group vocational counseling has a significant effect on vocational behavior of moderately mentally retarded adults residing in group homes. This research project demonstrated, through the use of videotaped group vocational counseling, that exposure of a specific population of mentally handicapped adults to work-appropriate behaviors can then be carried over as behaviors at their present work sites. The study also compares residential group home counselors' perceptions of change with the perceptions of each resident's work supervisor over time. The essence of the problem deals with the appropriateness and effectiveness of group vocational counseling for retarded adults attempting to integrate themselves back into communities. The research design has as its component a pretest/posttest model including double criterion instrumentation. The instrument chosen is the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale. Multiple analyses of covariance were used to test for significance between pretests and posttests. Each videotape was analyzed according to specific observable behaviors on interaction analysis forms for both clients and group leaders. The data from such research may be generalized nationally to other transitional deinstitutionalization projects experiencing difficulty in placing mentally handicapped individuals in sheltered or competitive employment.