Social Power in School Consultation: A Contemporary View of French and Raven's Bases of Power Model.

Abstract This article (a) offers an updated view of French and Raven's (1959) bases of social power model, (b) describes Raven's (1992) power/interaction model of interpersonal influence, and (c) applies elements of both to the practice of school consultation. In contrast to Martin (1978), who proposed that only expert and referent power pertain to school consultation, it is posited here that all six power bases (coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, referent, and informational) are attributed to and used by the school psychologist-consultant in working with teacher-consultees. Social power and influence are explored relative to typical events occurring during school consultation, such as the consultee's implementation of an intervention with integrity. The article concludes with a brief research agenda concerning the further exploration of social power within consultation.

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