اندازه گیری فشارنده نقش افرادی که لکنت زبان دارند

The purpose of this study was to explore whether people who stutter experience role entrapment in the form of vocational stereotyping. To accomplish this, 385 university students reported their perceptions of appropriate career choices for people who stutter. Direct survey procedures, utilizing the newly developed Vocational Advice Scale (VAS), were used in this study. Comparisons for the main effect of speaker status (person who stutters and person who does not stutter) were conducted using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results of this analysis suggested that the university students reported an overall perception that stuttering affected career opportunities and that 20 careers were judged to be inappropriate choices for people who stutter. Conversely, 23 careers were judged to be appropriate choices for people who stutter. Findings of this study provide initial data that supports that people who stutter may suffer from role entrapment related to career choices. Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) provide the definitions of stereotyping, role entrapment, and how these relate to people who stutter; (2) discuss the career choices that college students perceive as appropriate and inappropriate for people who stutter; and (3) summarize the needs for future research in this area.

Guitar (1998) stated that stuttering is characterized by an abnormally high frequency and duration of stoppages in the forward flow of speech. These stoppages can take the form of (a) repetitions; (b) prolongations of sounds; or (c) blockages of the airflow or voicing needed for fluent speech production. Guitar (1998) also stated that individuals who stutter, especially adults, are usually aware of their stuttering and are often embarrassed by it. Finally, Guitar indicated that individuals who stutter may use a significant amount of physical and mental effort to speak. Cooper (1993) described stuttering as a chronic disorder with behavioral, affective, and cognitive components. The multidimensional nature of stuttering can cause many difficulties for adults and children who stutter. Because of the effect stuttering has on communication, the interpersonal relationships and quality of life of people who stutter can be greatly affected (Manning, 2001). Since stuttering disrupts an individual’s ability to communicate with others, how a person copes with stuttering is often based on listeners’ responses (Silverman, 1996). Therefore, listener feedback can greatly affect the self-perceptions of people who stutter. Unfortunately, listener feedback embraces myriad negative attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes, that have been reported by a number of groups including speech–language pathologists (SLPs) (Cooper & Cooper, 1996; Turnbaugh, Guitar, & Hoffman, 1979), educators (Crowe & Walton, 1981 and Yeakle & Cooper, 1986), healthcare professionals (Silverman & Bongey, 1997 and Yairi & Carrico, 1992), lay people (Crowe & Cooper, 1977 and Ham, 1990), college students (Ruscello, Lass, & Brown, 1988; Silverman & Paynter, 1990), employers (Hurst & Cooper, 1983a), and vocational counselors (Hurst & Cooper, 1983b). Despite the wealth and quality of the research that has explored the negative stereotypes of people who stutter, little is known about how this negative stereotype is perpetuated and how it might affect the lives of people who stutter. The present study takes a step toward exploring these issues. This article outlines the development and initial use of the Vocational Advice Scale (VAS). This scale was designed to allow researchers to gain new insights into the attitudinal barriers faced by people who stutter. Four bodies of research provided the basis for the development of the VAS, including theories related to (1) stigma and spread phenomenon; (2) role entrapment; (3) research exploring vocational experiences of people who stutter; and (4) perceptions of individuals who stutter who are working in certain careers. 1.1. Stigma and spread phenomenon Two related theories provide possible explanations for the formation and effects of stereotypes. First, stigma theory suggests that the stigmatized person will have a “spoiled identity” due to the perceptions others have of a single characteristic that is labeled as deviant (Goffman, 1963). As a consequence, these people can be perceived as deficient in every aspect of their personhood. Similarly, a theory referred to as the spread phenomenon suggests that perceptions of individuals with a disability form a “fundamental negative bias” (Wright, 1983). For instance, a person with a disability may not be able to perform certain tasks effectively in a given career due to his or her disability. According to the spread phenomenon, the negative perceptions of a specific disability can generalize or spread to the perception of the whole person. Both theories explain how the perceptions of stuttering (a single characteristic) can generalize to other characteristics of the person who stutters (intelligence, personality, or competence). Both theories suggest that the stigmatized person will suffer from prejudices and discrimination because of their difference. Crocker, Major, and Steele (1998) suggested that a stigmatized individual experiences discrimination in social, educational, and occupational experiences. This stigma occurs because of differences in gender, race, sexual orientation, or physical disability. Similarly, Wright (1983) suggested that the negative attitudes held by a limited number of people might construct barriers to social, educational, and vocational experiences for people with disabilities. For people who stutter, the attitudes held by a group toward stuttering may lead to limitations in the educational, social, and occupational opportunities for people who stutter. 1.2. Role entrapment One of the most damaging effects of the spread of stereotypes and stigma is role entrapment. Smart (2001) describes role entrapment as occurring when a group in power defines those roles that the minority group can fulfill. The roles may be both social and occupational, and are generally limited to those roles that are perceived as undesirable. For occupational choices, role entrapment is often referred to as “occupational stereotyping.” African-Americans and other ethnic groups have long suffered from role entrapment and reduced career opportunities (Crocker et al., 1998; Smart, 2001). Studies have also found that women suffer from role entrapment (Callahan, 1991, Holleran & Lopez, 1984, Liff & Ward, 2001 and Lupaschuk & Yewchuck, 1998). Therefore, women and individuals of minority ethnic backgrounds may be confined to career choices that are less than desirable for their personal needs, and may confront many obstacles when choosing a career outside of their expected role. Role entrapment may also have an adverse effect on the occupational choices of people with physical disabilities. Several authors have discussed the limited occupational choices available to individuals with disabilities (e.g., Hahn, 1997 and Yuker, 1988). According to Alston and Hampton (2000), parents and teachers believed that people with disabilities have fewer career choices, especially those related to science and engineering. DeLoach (1989) found that employers were concerned that individuals with disabilities were often under-qualified for most careers. These employers reported being hesitant to place individuals with disabilities into management positions. These finding were true for individuals with physical, mental, emotional, or communication disabilities. Decaro, Evans, and Dawaliby (1982) explored the attitudes expressed by (a) teachers; (b) parents of deaf children; (c) housemothers; and (d) teachers’ aides toward the appropriateness of certain careers for qualified individuals who were deaf. To accomplish this goal, the authors developed the Decaro Attitudes Scale (DAS) ( Decaro et al., 1982). The DAS contained 28 statements that directed respondents to rate whether or not they would advise a “qualified deaf person” or a “qualified hearing person” to train for one of 14 different careers using a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). These items were designed to represent the respondents’ perceptions of appropriate career choices for a person who was deaf. For example: I would advise a deaf person with the right kind of qualifications (i.e., elementary, middle school, high school, or higher academic requirements) to train to be a (specific job). Decaro et al. (1982) found that (a) teachers; (b) parents; (c) housemothers; and (d) teacher’s aides reported that occupations that were dangerous, required a person to have contact with others, and required a high amount of communication abilities were inappropriate for individuals who were deaf. Replication of these findings in later investigations (Decaro, Dowaliby, & Maruggi, 1983; Parasnis, Decaro, & Raman, 1996), suggests that people who are deaf, like individuals with other types of disabilities, are perceived to have limited career choices and suffer from occupational stereotyping. 1.3. Research on occupational experiences of people who stutter There is some evidence that negative stereotypes and perceptions can spread and lead to role entrapment, or limited career choices, for women, minorities, people with physical disabilities, and individuals who are deaf. In light of this conclusion, it is important to explore whether the negative stereotypes of stuttering will spread and lead to limited career choices for people who stutter. To date, no research has explored whether this phenomenon exists. However, two types of research studies have explored similar issues. The first type of research involves the occupational experiences of people who stutter. In a study exploring these issues, Rice and Kroll (1997) surveyed 568 National Stuttering Project members regarding their perceptions of past work experiences. Findings of this study indicated that stuttering directly affected these individuals’ perceptions of work experiences and career choices. In particular, 70% of the participants reported that they believed they could have had a better job if they did not stutter, and 56% reported choosing a career that required less speaking. However, 35% of the participants reported that they believed stuttering had affected their chances of being promoted, reported feeling discriminated against in the hiring process, and perceived that their supervisors had misjudged their performance because they stuttered. In a similar study, Opp, Hayden, and Cottrell (1997) surveyed 166 people who stuttered. These participants answered questions about their job choices, number of years they were employed, and whether or not they perceived experiencing discrimination in their careers. Results of the study suggested that 35% of the participants reported being in careers that required a low level of communication, and 39% believed they had experienced discrimination because of their stuttering in the hiring process. To summarize, these studies have found that a significant number of people who stutter believed that: (a) they could have had a better job if they did not stutter; (b) they chose careers that required less communication; and (c) they felt discriminated against in the hiring process. Neither of these studies offered any explanations about why people who stutter reported these experiences. These perceptions may have occurred because of the participants own insecurities and beliefs related to stuttering or the negative perceptions of others in their environment. Craig and Calver (1991) explored issues related to employment of people who stutter who had attended a treatment program. The first part of the study surveyed 34 employers regarding their perceptions of two groups of people who stuttered who were employed at their companies. One group of individuals who stuttered received therapy to speak more fluently, while the other group did not. The employers perceived the speech of the individuals who had completed treatment to be more acceptable and the perceptions toward the individuals who had not received therapy did not change. Results indicated that people who stuttered were perceived more positively when they are able to improve their fluency. In addition, Craig and Calver (1991) polled the 62 individuals who had completed therapy program regarding vocation and career changes following treatment. Nineteen of the respondents reported a promotion following the completion of therapy and 18 responded that a positive job change (an upgrade from their former position) followed treatment. Results of this study suggested that people who stuttered were not only perceived in a more positive manner by employers following treatment, but also experienced a positive change in career. 1.4. Research of attitudes towards people who stutter working in certain careers A fourth area of research has explored the attitudes individuals report toward people who stutter working in different careers. Silverman and Paynter (1990) studied the attitudes of 48 college students toward four constructs. These constructs were a “factory worker,” a “factory worker who stutters,” a “lawyer,” and a “lawyer who stutters.” The authors found that the college students perceived the lawyer and factory worker who stuttered more negatively than the two constructs of individuals who did not stutter. In a related study, Silverman and Bongey (1997) surveyed the attitudes of 20 nurses toward scenarios involving a “doctor who stutters” and a “doctor who does not stutter.” The nurses perceived doctors who stutter more negatively than doctors who did not stutter. Both of these studies found that people who stutter were perceived less positively than individuals who did not stutter when performing the same careers. One difficulty with this research is that neither study explored whether these perceptions were related to a generalized stereotype of stuttering or specifically to these careers. In addition, the studies did not explore whether the participants believed that people who stutter should not pursue these careers. The primary purpose of this study was to explore whether individuals who stutter suffer from role entrapment in the form of vocational stereotyping. This was done by measuring university students’ perceptions of appropriate career choices, by measuring their perceptions of career advice, for people who stutter and people who do not stutter. To accomplish this goal, the study developed the VAS, a scale that measures perceptions of appropriate career choices for people who stutter.