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Applying Career Development Theory

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Applying Career Development Theory

I met with “Allison”, a 22-year-old student who is planning to graduate in December with a B.S. in Psychology with minors in Criminal Justice and Sociology. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss her future plans with regard to her education and career.
Her ultimate career goal is to work toward a career as a criminal profiler for a law enforcement agency. Our goals for the session were:
1. Research the Criminal Profiling career field to determine the education and experience requirements
2. Research further educational options (i.e. graduate schools and degrees)
3. Determine the various application deadlines and requirements for the different graduate schools/programs
4. Create an action plan for the next two weeks
The theory I found most applicable when working with Allison was actually not one that we had discussed in our readings, but one that I knew of outside of the course and find to be very useful in these kinds of situations. I chose to use the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by Robert Lent, Steven Brown and Gail Hackett. This theory is principally derived from Bandura’s social cognitive theory but blends in components of Krumboltz and many other prominent career development theories. It focuses on three components: self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals. Allison expressed an interest in a law enforcement career very early in her life. When most little girls were saying they wanted to be teachers or nurses, she wanted to be a police officer or a fire fighter. Later, she expressed an interest in being a biologist who works in a crime lab. It was during her early high school years that she began refining what her interests were and narrowing down fields she wanted to pursue. She discovered a lot by talking with her friends, as she realized her ability to “figure people out and the reasons why they do things.” This led her to take a psychology class, which led to declaring a major in Psychology and a minor in Criminal Justice. She also had some firsthand experience with the law enforcement field. First, when she was in high school Allison’s cousin was assaulted and the investigation was mishandled by the responding officer, leading her to take an interest in the system and work to correct it. She also lived with an aunt and uncle who served as an EMS dispatcher and Reserve Police Officer, respectively, and was able to witness and hear what their jobs entailed. This background information is almost a textbook explanation for the interest development model of SCCT. SCCT notes that people form interest in activities when they view themselves as competent and able to produce valued outcomes, and when they form goals to either sustain or increase their involvement. In this case, Allison developed an interest in psychology and felt confident in her abilities in that area. She began to increase her involvement by studying the field, and enhancing her experience by seeking assistance with goal setting for future positive outcomes. According to SCCT, the interplay between the three components creates a feedback loop. As individuals develop an interest, they develop their self-efficacy along with their skill set in that particular area, leading them to view positive outcomes and set goals, which in turn lead to an increase in self-efficacy. Allison is currently in the goal setting stage, and as she reaches those goals, her self-efficacy will increase, leading to continual investment in that interest. Should she suffer a set-back, such as not being admitted to her top choice graduate program, this theory provides the framework for going back and looking at the initial interest to determine if there are additional areas in which Allison may need to re-examine in order to move forward with her goals. The results of our session were that Allison narrowed down her school choices to one top choice with one alternate. Her action plan for the next two weeks will include in depth research into her graduate school choices and their admission requirements. She will also begin to gather the required application materials and meet with me again in two weeks to review our plan.

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