Helping and human relations V.1
- New York Holt Rinehart and Winston 1969
- 298p.
While there can be no question that both lay and professional assistance in the area of human relations is urgently needed, procedures for assessing the suitability and potential of helpers and for preparing them for the actual helping situation have not been adequately de- fined. Professor Carkhuff's two volumes represent the first attempt to deal with all phases of effective helping programs in terms of identifiable and repeatable oper- ations. The author's pragmatic approach to the helping process is guided by what he calls the "three R's of helping": the right of the helper to intervene in the life of another; his responsibilities once he has intervened;' and the role which he must assume and the role conflicts he will encounter in helping another.
In the first volume, Selection and Training, Professor Carkhuff uses the most exten- sive body of empirical and experimental research available as the basis for estab- lishing effective selection procedures. After an introductory discussion of the present state of helping effectiveness, the author presents a model for effective func- tioning and dysfunctioning - making clear the helpee, helper, and environmental and contextual variables that affect the help- ing process. Procedures for selecting potentially effective personnel are pre- sented. The author places special em- phasis on determining the capability of the future helper to discriminate and com- municate the key factors in the helpee's situation. The main focus of the volume, however, is training. Systematic training procedures are described,