RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WHITE RACIAL IDENTITY ATTITUDES AND SELF-REPORTED MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCES

This research tested a multicultural competency training model's hypothesis that counseling students' White racial identity development strongly influences their attainment of multicultural counseling competencies (H. B. Sabnani, J. G. Ponterotto, & L. G. Borodovsky, 1991). White counseling graduate students (N = 128) completed measures of White racial identity development and self-reported multicultural counseling competencies. Students' White racial identity development, educational level, and clinical experience demonstrated moderate correlations with multicultural competencies. Regression analyses indicated that racial identity attitudes explained variability in competencies beyond that accounted for by demographic, educational, and clinical variables. Results suggest that racial identity attitude development should be considered an integral component in the planning of multicultural counseling training.