Implementing a Community Intervention to Promote Social Justice and Advocacy: Analysis of a Town Hall Meeting on Race, Justice, and Peace (original) (raw)
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The authors seek to initiate a broader dialog within the social justice movements across disciplines to include a deeper understanding of how power politics plays out in the social/political domain of the public arena outlined in the American Counseling Association (ACA) Advocacy Competencies. In this domain, counselors act as legislative/policy change advocates. However, in recent years social justice advocates within the profession have called for a more activist stance focusing on changing social structures of unjust systems and institutions as an adjunct to legislative/policy advocacy. Activities engaged in by policy/legislative advocates and structural change activists are discussed. Delineation between the differences in perception of power by political operatives and counseling professionals is examined so counselors may have a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with being social change agents. Future implications for the field are discussed with fo...
Applying a Social Justice Framework to College Counseling Center Practice
Journal of College Counseling, 2003
Counselors are often challenged to address issues of social justice in the counseling context. and they must be deliberate and innovative in their attempts to respond. Counselors will be required to relate social justice considerations to their practices and to the theoretical foundations of these practices; they must then operationalize an approach that suits their particular practice setting. The authors present the early results of their attempt to meet this challenge. social justice approach to counseling (or any other endeavor) is based on (a) the acknowledgment of broad, systematic societal inequities A and oppression and (b) the assumption of the inevitable, if unintentional, location of every individual (and every professional field) within this system. In turn, this assumption then obliges responsible action that contributes to the elimination of systematic oppression in the forms of racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and other biases. This concept is closely related to multiculturalism, with its emphasis on cultural, racial, and ethnic issues, one of which is social injustice and oppression. It is easy to find examples of the increasing attention that is being given to social justice in counseling and psychology. Lorraine Bradley, during her term (1999-2000) as president of the American Counseling Association (ACA), chose social justice and advocacy as the thematic focus of her term (see fiselica & Robinson, 2001). Bonnie Strickland, the recipient of an Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology from the American Psychological Association (MA), has commented extensively on the topic of psychology's unintentional support of patriarchal, Eurocenmc, classist social norms (Strickland, 2000). According to Strickland, professionals in the mental health field have frequently reexamined and reevaluated their positions regarding these norms, yet additional reconsideration by psychologists and counselors of their most basic assumptions is still needed. We still consistently place the reason for the occurrence of psychopathology within the person. The anxiety, depression, and dissociative disorders which may be adaptive signals of stressful life conditions arc pathologizcd as the emotional wcakness of thc "mentally ill.". .. We must expand our boundaries by remcmbering that our thcorieb and methods were designed to be replaccd. Today's notions. .. will be as outmoded to the next generation as hysteria, the schizophrenogenic mother, and lobotomies are to us now. (Strickland, 2000, p. 336
Social Justice Counseling: The Next Steps Beyond Multiculturalism
Advocacy is important to community practice because it furthers the social justice goals of practitioners and their community partners (Maton, Humphreys, Jason, & Shinn, in press). First and foremost, advocates may promote community psychology values when efforts are directed toward changing systems that perpetuate social problems. Advocacy may also help practitioners and community members secure resources and reduce barriers for the populations they serve. These types of efforts may influence the social environment as they create dialogue between community practitioners, community organizations, and policymakers, which has the potential to frame how the issue is discussed. Nonprofit organizations and citizen action coalitions are often closest to the problem and can serve as a bridge between government officials and the people they serve. Furthermore, advocacy can be an important service to the community when practitioners act as a resource to policymakers by providing knowledge, guidance, and mobilization. Finally, advocacy may be an opportunity to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities for community psychologists as well as their partners in the community.
Power Politics: Advocacy to Activism in Social Justice Counseling
Journal for Social Action in Counseling & Psychology, 2018
The authors seek to initiate a broader dialog within the social justice movements across disciplines to include a deeper understanding of how power politics plays out in the social/political domain of the public arena outlined in the American Counseling Association (ACA) Advocacy Competencies. In this domain, counselors act as legislative/policy change advocates. However, in recent years social justice advocates within the profession have called for a more activist stance focusing on changing social structures of unjust systems and institutions as an adjunct to legislative/policy advocacy. Activities engaged in by policy/legislative advocates and structural change activists are discussed. Delineation between the differences in perception of power by political operatives and counseling professionals is examined so counselors may have a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with being social change agents. Future implications for the field are discussed with fo...