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Counselors' Social Class And Socioeconomic Status Understanding And Awareness, Jennifer M. Cook, Gerard Lawson

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Nine licensed professional counselors participated in semi-structured interviews designed to reveal their awareness and understanding about social class and socioeconomic status (SES). Findings suggest that participants' descriptions of social class and SES often are in-congruent with how they use the terms, and their awareness and understanding may be limited because of developmental factors, indicating potential clinical liabilities. The authors suggest that counselors should develop stronger social class consciousness to provide affirming counseling services and that further research on such strategies is needed.