TPC Journal-Vol 9- Issue 4-FULL ISSUE

406 The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 4 Significant correlations with years of counseling experience. Bivariate correlational analyses were conducted to examine whether significant relationships existed between years of counselor experience and the APPS/ATTS, EAI, and IRMA-SF. Years of counseling experience and previous training on prostitution and/or human trafficking were significantly correlated ( r = -.142, p < .01). The longer counselors had practiced, the less likely they were to have received training on prostitution and human trafficking. Years of counseling experience was also significantly correlated with the APPS/ATTS item, “Prostitutes/trafficked women earn a lot of money” ( r = .153, p < .01). Thus, the longer counselors had practiced, the more they believed engaging in prostitution or being trafficked was a lucrative endeavor. Years of counseling experience were not significantly correlated with overall APPS/ATTS scores ( r = .030, p > .05), overall IRMA-SF scores ( r = .055, p > .05), or overall EAI scores ( r = .025, p > .05). Significant correlations with training on prostitution and/or human trafficking . Bivariate correlational analyses were conducted to examine whether significant relationships existed between previous training on prostitution/human sex trafficking and the APPS/ATTS, EAI, and IRMA-SF. An examination between training and survey items revealed a significant relationship between previous training and the APPS/ATTS items “Most prostitutes/trafficked women are morally corrupt” ( r = .157, p < .01), “Most prostitutes/trafficked women are ugly” ( r = .150, p < .01), “Prostitutes/trafficked women spread AIDS” ( r = .122, p < .05), “Prostitutes/trafficked women enjoy the controlling of men” ( r = -.125, p < .05), “Prostitution/sex trafficking is a way for some women to gain power and control” ( r = -.113, p < .01), and “Prostitution/sex trafficking harms the institution of marriage” ( r = .108, p < .05). Based on the bivariate correlations, participants who had not received training on prostitution/sex trafficking were more likely to believe prostitutes/trafficked women were morally corrupt, ugly, spread AIDS, and harmed the institution of marriage. Counselors who had not received training on prostitution/ sex trafficking were less likely to believe that prostitutes/trafficked women engaged in sex acts to gain power and control and enjoyed the controlling of men. Previous training was significantly correlated with the overall IRMA-SF scale ( r = .127, p < .05) and the Self–Other Awareness subscale. Thus, counselors with no previous training on prostitution/ sex trafficking were more likely to accept rape myths and less likely to successfully engage in the empathy construct of perspective taking. Significant correlations between survey items. Bivariate correlational analyses were conducted to examine whether significant relationships existed between items on the APPS/ATTS, EAI, and IRMA-SF. The APPS/ATTS survey item “Most prostitutes/trafficked women are ugly” was significantly correlated with 22 items (76%). The results revealed counselors’ perception that the “uglier” prostitutes/trafficked women were, the more likely they were to harm the institution of marriage, increase the rate of sexually transmitted diseases, spread AIDS, damage society’s morals, be morally corrupt, and have drug addictions. This APPS/ATTS item was of interest because of the presence of the label “ugly.” The overall IRMA-SF scale was significantly correlated to 23 items on the APPS/ATTS (79%) and the overall mean score for SDD attitudes ( r = -.132, p < .01). Thus, a relationship existed between higher scores of items indicating agreement with SDD and lower levels of rape myth acceptance. The more counselors in this study perceived prostitutes to be victims and prostitution as the result of victimization, the less likely they were to accept rape myths. The IRMA-SF scale was significantly correlated with the EAI subscales of Affective Response ( r = -.169, p < .01) and Perspective Taking ( r = -.181, p < .01). Counselors with lower levels of rape myth acceptance were better able to imagine and react to the emotions of others. Counselors who believed they were better able to imagine and subsequently experience themselves in other people’s shoes were less likely to accept rape myths.