Social Advocacy in Counseling
Social advocacy has been described by some counseling theorists as a "fifth force" paradigm that should be considered to rival if not replace other major counseling psychology paradigms regarding behavior and mental illness (Ratts, 2009). This paper briefly discusses what social justice/advocacy is, the debate regarding its status as a paradigm in counseling psychology, and how social advocacy can enhance both the client's experience and life and the professional counselor's personal, professional, and ethical obligations to helping others.
Social Justice
Social justice is fairness or impartiality exercised in society, specifically as it is implemented by and within different levels of social classes of a society. A truly socially just populace would be based on the principles of solidarity and equality, would consider and maintain values, human rights, and the dignity of every person in the society (Bell, 1997). Social justice/advocacy theories have in recent years been presented as valid psychological paradigms for counseling psychology.
Social Advocacy as a "Fifth Force" in Counseling Psychology
According to Ratts, D'Andrea, and Arredondo (2004) the profession of counseling is being influenced by a growing movement directing professional counselors to incorporate a social justice perspective into counseling theories, paradigms, and practices. A counseling perspective incorporating social justice would consider issues surrounding the imbalance of power and oppression and would focus on activism and social advocacy as a method to speak to the inequitable conditions in a society that hinder the personal development, academic attainment, and career objectives of marginalized groups (Ratts, 2009). Ratts (2009) also claims that social advocacy as a means to address issues of societal inequity is in union with the American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2005). Ratts (2009) points out that in Section A.6.a. Of the code this mission is clearly stated: "when appropriate, counselors advocate at the individual, group, institutional, and societal levels to examine potential barriers and obstacles that inhibit access and/or the growth and development of clients" (ACA, 2005; p. 5).
The relationship of social justice/social advocacy to counseling should go beyond simple partisan political affiliations or beliefs according to Ratts and associates. For example, Ratts et al. (2004) make the case that social justice counseling as a "fifth force" in the field following the paradigms of the psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, existential-humanistic, and multicultural counseling paradigms that have been the backbone of theory and intervention in counseling. Other theorists have followed suit (e.g., Fouad, Gerstein, & Toporek, 2006; Lee, 2007). In more recent pleas for the infusion of social advocacy/justice as a counseling psychology paradigm Ratts et al. (2009) claim that the intentions of the counseling field are not effectively drawing the connection between oppression in marginalized groups and issues surrounding mental health. The issue for social justice advocates is that they believe that the prominent counseling paradigms, whose focus tends to be on the individual without taking into account environmental factors, is limiting in its explanation of mental health. This notion has led Ratts and others to the request to expand the counselor role as to include the notion of social justice advocacy (Ratts, 2009). Indeed several other authors have followed this call with the justification that social justice counseling is a resurfacing paradigm that is consistent in understanding broader explanations of human behavior and the methods by which the practice of counseling is currently being shaped (e.g., Greenleaf & Williams, 2009; Lee, 2007). In essence, this is an ethical cry to adopt a political, social, or philosophical point-of-view as a psychological paradigm. Moreover, this "paradigm" has been rediscovered many times. The fundamental foundation of this ethical command is that long-established counseling paradigms in the form of individual, family or other psychotherapeutic interventions have at times not been able to assist therapeutic clients to maximize their wellness and personal development. So these researchers claim that newly discovered links between systemic oppression and mental health issues indicate that many of the clients' problems and issues are environmentally-based (Greenleaf & Williams, 2009). This writer finds this last claim almost comical and wonders if these individuals ever read the works of Freud, Watson, Skinner, Lewin, Rogers, Allport, and a host of other classic psychological theorists who described environmentally-based factors that shape human behavior.
Nonetheless, the ACA created a taskforce to present a framework to address issues of oppression so that it could assist the counseling profession conceptualize how social justice and advocacy counseling appears in
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