Enhancing Mental Health: Advocating for Social Justice in Counseling

1. CHAPTER 3:Social Justice Counseling Developing Multicultural Counseling Competence: A Systems Approach Second Edition Danica G. Hays and Bradley T. Erford

2. Key Constructs • Social advocacy – the act of arguing on behalf of an individual, group, idea or issue in the pursuit of influencing outcomes. • Social justice – a belief in a just world that respects and protects human rights. • Social justice counseling – counseling that recognizes the impact of oppression, privilege, and discrimination on the mental health of individuals. • Goal is to promote equal distribution of power and resources through advocacy.

3. Key Constructs Continued • Social injustice – Unequal distribution of rewards and burdens Examples: • Educational achievement gaps in schools • Limited housing • Poverty • Child exploitation • Racial profiling • Violence towards racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities

4. Key Constructs Continued • Oppression – “a state of asymmetric power relations characterized by domination, subordination, & resistance, where the dominating person or groups exercise their power by restricting access to material resources and by implanting in the subordinated persons or groups fear or self-deprecating views about themselves” (Prilleltensy & Gonick, 1996, pp. 129-130). • Structural Violence: Marginalization that results from oppressive institutions. • Examples

5. Key Constructs Continued • Oppression is the intersection of 2 modalities & 3 types: Modalities • Oppression by force: imposing on an individual or group an object, label, role, experience, or living condition that is unwanted and causes physical & psychological pain. • Oppression by deprivation: depriving an individual or group an object, label, role, experience, or living condition that hinders the physical & psychological well-being. Types • Primary • Secondary • Tertiary/internalized oppression

6. Key Constructs Continued • Privilege – having power, access, advantage, & a majority status • Control, choice, autonomy, influence over others • Favorable treatment, entitlement, social support • Oppression & privilege are inversely related • Empowerment – equitable distribution of power. • Goal of social justice counseling • McWhirter’s (1994) definition of empowerment

7. Social Injustice and Mental Health Issues • U.S. Surgeon General’s 2001 Report • Re-examining culturally competent practices for counselors • Role of negative social conditions and other oppression experiences in minority mental health • Call for social justice counseling in schools

8. Social Injustice & Mental Health Issues • Racial, ethnic, & cultural minorities experience the most discrimination & poverty, yet have limited access to mental health care. • Susceptibility to depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse, violence, chronic & acute stress. • Mental health issues can lead to medical issues. • Stress is the primary cause of emotional disturbances. • Principle sources of stress - poverty, sexism, & being born unwanted. • Marginalized groups are at a greater risk for psychological, physical, interpersonal, & financial risks.

9. Counselors as Social Advocates • Lee (2007) calls for a paradigm shift in order for counselors to engage in social justice counseling. Counselors must: • re-conceptualize theory & practice of counseling. • intervene at individual & societal levels. • reject neutrality in counseling. • self-exploration • explore personal life’s meaning. • explore personal privilege. • explore the nature of oppression. • work to become multiculturally literate. • establish a personal “social justice compass”

10. Advocacy Competencies • Growing awareness of the relationship between oppression & mental illness • CSJ Advocacy Competencies • 3 Levels of Advocacy: • Microlevel • Middle Level • Macrolevel • Two realms within each: acting with AND acting on behalf

11. Advocacy Competencies Continued • 6 Domains of advocacy competencies: • Client/student Empowerment • Client/student Advocacy • Community Collaboration • Systems Advocacy • Public Information • Social/Political Advocacy

12. Three-Tier Model of Social Advocacy • Uses a social-constructivist framework. • Reality is constructed through human interaction & is a reflection of socially constructed concepts. • Stresses importance of context & culture. • Consider social justice issues related to clients and the profession • Consider social justice issues across three tiers: self-awareness, client services, and community collaboration

13. Challenges of Social Justice Counseling • High interpersonal & intrapersonal costs • Social justice initiatives may be incongruent with traditional counseling theories & ethical standards • Lack of appropriate training • Dominant groups (e.g., closed-mindedness of others, lack of support) • Counseling process (e.g., communication difficulties, differing awareness of social justice issues) • Logistics (e.g., administrative & time constraints) • Ethics (e.g., imposition of values) • Counselor emotions (e.g., isolation, helplessness)

14. Benefits of Social Justice Counseling • Personal satisfaction & growth • General benefits for society • General benefits for the client • Improved counseling process • General benefits for counselor • Imparting knowledge to community & clients