Date of Award

Summer 2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling & Human Services

Program/Concentration

Counselor Education and Supervision

Committee Director

Gülşah Kemer

Committee Member

Edward Neukrug

Committee Member

Shana Pribesh

Abstract

Research with firefighters continues to indicate that this population is particularly vulnerable to development of mental health conditions as a result of their professional roles (International Association of Firefighters [IAFF], 2019; Stanley et al., 2017; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2018) and minority firefighters may be at heightened risk as a result of their experiences within the fire service. An answer to this concern may lie in the exploration of belonging and uncivil behaviors, as research has demonstrated that belonging in the workplace serves to reduce mental health symptoms and enhance an individual’s ability to cope with stressors and workplace trauma (Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010; Shakespeare-Finch & Daley, 2017), while uncivil behaviors have been linked to decreased work performance and detriments to mental health (Kunkel & Davidson, 2014; Porath, Foulk, et al., 2015; Porath & Gerbasi, 2015; Porath, Gerbasi, et al., 2015; Porath & Pearson, 2012). Therefore, to better understand minority firefighters’ experiences with uncivil coworker behaviors that influenced their sense of belonging in their workplace, I used Concept Mapping design (CM; Kane & Trochim, 2007). Ten firefighters that self-identified as racial minorities generated 73 statements describing behaviors that decreased their feelings of belonging. These statements were organized into four regions encompassing seven clusters. I discussed findings of the current study with implications for mental health professionals’ treatment of firefighters, counselor education, and the fire service as a whole as well as the limitations to the study and suggestions for future research.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/773e-7049

ISBN

9798460435203

Download

Share

COinS