Assignment 1: LASA 2: Discrimination:
Reflection and Interview
Watch the Frontline program online.
Frontline: A Class Divided
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/
A Class Divided explores the nature of prejudice. Third grade teacher Jane
Elliott deliberately created a classroom situation to teach her students how
it feels to be on the receiving end of discrimination. This is an encore
presentation of the classic documentary on third-grade teacher Jane
Elliott's "blue eyes/brown eyes" exercise, originally conducted in the days
following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. This
classic classroom experiment, conducted in the late 1960s in a small
Midwestern town, demonstrates how quickly and easily schoolchildren can
internalize prejudice and discriminate. Years later, these children discuss
the valuable lessons they learned from this experiment. Elliott employs this
same teaching strategy with a group of adults in the workplace, and
discusses their reactions.
This assignment is designed to allow you to synthesize what you have
been learning about the various dimensions of diversity and the necessity
of treating everyone in an inclusive, sensitive and respectful manner.
Discrimination Paper Part I: Interpersonal Reflection
After viewing the video, consider the following questions and write your
response. Your response should be 4-5 pages and should address each
question thoroughly, reflecting an accurate representation of what you
have learned in this course. Demonstrate scholarship by utilizing
supporting resources to justify your ideas and responses:
• What did you learn from the film? What scene or scenes do you think
you'll still remember a month from now and why those scenes?
• Did any part of the film surprise you? Do you think someone with a
disability, of a different sexual orientation, an older American or
some of a different religion would also find it surprising? Why or why
not?
• Both Elliott and her former students talk about whether this exercise
should be done with all children. What do you think? If the exercise
could be harmful to children, as Elliott suggests, what do you think
actual discrimination might do? Use an example, different from the
example you used to describe labels, from what you have learned
about people with disabilities, older people, sexual minorities, or
people of differing religions.
• How can negative and positive labels placed on a group become selffulfilling prophecies? Use an example from what you have learned
about people with disabilities, older people, sexual minorities, or
people of differing religions.
• Based on what you have learned in this course, discuss an example
(either from the video or from your experiences) that illustrates each
of the following statements:
◦
Dimensions of diversity may be hidden or visible.
◦
Dimensions of diversity are in a constant state of flux.
◦
Dimensions of diversity are not always clear-cut or easily defined.
Discrimination Paper Part II: Personal Interview
For Part II of this assignment, you will have a conversation with someone
who you feel may have faced discrimination. Examples include someone
with a disability, an older American, someone who is a sexual minority, or
someone who lives in a multicultural family. After choosing an individual to
interview, explain to this individual what you have seen in the Class
Divided program. Invite them to watch the program, or parts of the
program, with you. After watching or discussing the program, pose the
following questions to the individual. Be sure to explain the reason for your
questions and why you have selected them to participate in the interview:
• What, if any, discrimination do you experience?
• How have you coped with this situation?
• What do you think needs to change at the cultural level to reduce
discrimination?
Following your refection (Part I listed above), add 2-3 pages to your paper
which addresses the following:
• A description of the individual you chose to interview and why. Explain
how you went about approaching this individual for the interview.
• What are your observations about the person's view of discrimination
and how it affects his/her daily life?
• Did the interaction with the person change your view of discrimination? If
so, explain how the interaction has affected you either positively or
negatively. If it did not change your view of discrimination, explain
why.
• How well do you think you would cope with discrimination from this
person's perspective?
• Finally, what is the best manner in which to advocate for those facing
discrimination? What actions will you change based on what you
have learned in this course and how will you serve as an advocate
for those individuals who face discrimination?
Your final assignment, consisting of both Part I and II, should be
approximately 6 -8 pages. Be sure to address each topic listed above and,
as appropriate, cite the online course, the textbook, and other credible
sources to substantiate the points you are making. For example, when
discussing an example of how diversity may be hidden or invisible cite
sources, which you have referenced to substantiate the points you are
making.
Submit your assignment to the M5: Assignment 1 Dropbox by Monday,
July 10, 2017.
Maximum
Assignment 1 Grading Criteria
Points
Describes what was learned from the film and explains what
20
scene(s) will be remembered.
Clarifies how some scenes were personally surprising and
24
addresses how someone else may find the film surprising.
Expresses whether the class exercise should be done with all
children. Provides an example of how discrimination impacts
20
children.
Discusses positive and negative labeling and, with an example,
24
depicts how labeling can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Provides examples that illustrate how diversity may be hidden, is
in a constant state of flux, and how diversity is not always
40
straightforward.
Interviews an individual different from them. Describes the
individual and reasons for choosing the individual and provides
observations about the individual's views on, and experience with, 56
discrimination, and what specific challenges, if any, he or she has
faced.
Explains whether this interview changed their personal view of
discrimination and discusses how the student would cope with
24
discrimination from this person’s perspective.
Expresses, personally, how to advocate for those facing
discrimination and future actions to take based on what has been 28
learned in this course.
Style (8 points): Tone, audience, and word choice
Organization (16 points): Introduction, transitions, and
conclusion
Usage and Mechanics (16 points): Grammar, spelling, and
64
sentence structure
APA Elements (24 points): In text citations and references,
paraphrasing, and appropriate use of quotations and other
elements of style
Total:
300
19 Converging Social Justice in Diversity Practice
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER
• Social Justice and Empowerment
• Power and Powerlessness
• Social Justice and the Therapeutic Process
• Feminist Therapy and Social Justice
• Patient Navigation: Social Justice Example
• Implications for Mental Health Professionals
• Case Study
• Summary
Several professional organizations across multiple disciplines have implicated racism,
sexism, and other forms of oppression as deleterious to health and well-being. An
expansion of mental health professionals’ roles includes being active change agents
against structural inequalities that foster inequity across race, gender, class, and other
sources of identity. Not only in patients’ lives but also in our own do the consequences of
social inequalities manifest. Social justice is oriented to an understanding of clients’
situations as well as to the transformation of the very conditions that press down on
people’s lives (Vera & Speight, 2003). This transformative work, and to the extent that it
is done, describes a social justice framework.
Social Justice and Empowerment
At its core, social justice is concerned with a just and equitable distribution of resources,
advocacy, and empowerment as well as a scrutiny of the processes that lead to inequality
(Vera & Speight, 2003). Fairness extends to all people, across race, sexuality, physical
makeup, religion, and ability and commits to change in systems, policies, and practices
that perpetuate inequality (Fouad, Gerstein, & Toporek, 2006). Thus, social justice is
concerned with restructuring, outreach, education, and empowerment (Ivey & Collins,
2003). In addition, social justice does the following:
1 Encourages full participation in society.
2 Facilitates awareness of structural forces that contribute to disease.
3 Advocates for people to grow in their awareness of social responsibility.
4 Unifies people with others who are similarly situated and marginalized.
Warren and Constantine (2007) capture social justice as investment and involvement in
interpersonal relationships wherein there is unification with “oppressed, marginalized,
and disenfranchised groups in various social justice struggles” (p. 232). Warren and
Constantine (2007) also discuss the importance of creating environments where people
feel physical and psychological safety, resistance to authority, and systemic change.
Millions of low-income people (disproportionately people of color) reside in physically
and psychologically unsafe areas. Peaceful resistance among some people (e.g., visible
people of color) may not be interpreted as peaceful among more powerful others (e.g., the
police). Thus, strategies of resistance must be considered with knowledge of this
difference otherwise loss of freedom and life can occur.
According to Comstock et al. (2008), relational cultural theory is focused on respecting
the quality of relationships that marginalized groups have across the life span that are
inextricably linked to race, gender, and social identities. They contend that psychotherapy
that does not emanate from a multicultural, social justice paradigm is vulnerable to
reproducing the systems of subjugation, shame, and oppression that describe the daily
lives of many stigmatized groups. Cultural competence among mental health
professionals is connected to knowledge of the ways in which cultural oppression and the
myriad forms of social inequity contribute to humiliation and isolation among people
who are from devalued groups. (See Storytelling: United Work.)
Toporek and Williams (2006) conceptualized differences among advocacy, social action,
and social justice. In their view, advocacy is a variety of roles that the counseling
professional adopts in the interest of clients and includes empowerment, advocacy, and
social action. Social action is described as action taken by the counselor external to the
client to “confront or act on behalf of client groups” (p. 19). Empowerment is viewed as
one goal of counseling and psychotherapy and is often in the service of a social justice
paradigm.
Pinderhughes (1995) defined empowerment as “achieving reasonable control over one’s
destiny, learning to cope constructively with debilitating forces in society, and acquiring
the competence to initiate change at the individual and systems level” (p. 136). For
McWhirter (1991), empowerment is a process wherein people or groups of people who
lack power become cognizant of the power dynamics that operate in their lives (e.g.,
prejudice, discrimination) and as a result are able to acquire reasonable control in their
lives without encroaching on others’ rights. (See Storytelling: Change and Costs.)
Empowerment involves educating vulnerable people and communities about resources,
information, programs, and behaviors that can improve the overall quality of their lives
(Helms, 2003). (See Storytelling: Unable to Accommodate That Request.) Empowerment
is a recognition of power disparities and their creation of imbalance, privileging those
with the most resources while inferring disadvantage on those who do not have many.
Patients who struggle with discrimination, of any kind, need to know that they have a
competent clinician who has sociopolitical awareness, which encompasses ethics, social
justice, and cultural competence.
Failure to recognize patriarchy and classism may contribute to missed opportunities to
make organizational changes that encourage equal participation (Hoffman et al., 2005).
Mental health professionals are encouraged to identify and have the ability to discuss
privileges that they receive in society due to race, class, gender, ability, religion, skin
color, accent, and sexuality (Arredondo et al., 1996). This skill supports educating the
woman in the following storytelling about resisting people and systems that exploit her
and learning to engage in decision making to keep herself and her child safe and secure.
In doing so, a social justice paradigm is activated. (See Self-Check Exercise 19.1: Social
Justice in Action.)
Questions that arise from this case include the following: How might a mental health
professional who is multiculturally competent, and ethnically responsible, with a social
justice orientation help mothers avoid homelessness when shelters are full? What is our
social justice responsibility as mental health professionals for patient care outside of the
office hours? Do current ethical guidelines regarding dual relationships impact the range
and scope of advocacy for those in the most need?
Ethical practice (competence, doing no harm, informed consent, professional boundaries)
is critical to social justice work. Three recurring constructs appear to be most salient:
respect, responsibility, and social action (Fouad et al., 2006). A position of respect is
inclusive of deference to the community, abiding by the community’s strengths, and a
stance of humility. Responsibility speaks to duty to serve, being conscientious regarding
the nature of one’s service, and not taking advantage of the vulnerability that
marginalized communities face. Social action encourages pro bono work and to identify
and eradicate practices that are unjust and corrupt (Fouad et al., 2006).
Both short- and long-term advocacy and social action considerations for mental health
professionals are mentioned below:
1 Maintain and develop relationships with community agencies that provide care for
people in need. Even licensed providers who have a cash only policy and do not
accept insurance, which speaks to the wealth of patients and perhaps of the
provider, need to be aware of community services.
2 Use the Internet to identify emergency funds available through churches, the Red
Cross, the YMCA, and similar community agencies for a hotel stay.
3 Contact shelters in adjoining towns and see if transportation can be made to transport a
family to a safe place.
4 Contact the local newspaper to write a story about this issue in order to educate the
public.
5 Contact social services, which are often connected to food banks and other resources to
provide emergency food and clothing.
6 Contact congressional representatives about the need for policy changes that can lead
to more shelters for families. Write letters and encourage others to do so.
7 Collaborate with schools to advocate for meals, coats, and after school care. Tutoring,
counseling, and other services may be available to help children who are
contending with stressful life situations.
8 Encourage the woman to trust that situations change and things do get better.
9 When basic necessities are met, such as shelter and food, encourage the woman to
write her narrative and give voice to her experience. This can be empowering.
10
Do not resist the expression of the woman’s confusion, uncertainty, fear, and
anger.
11
Encourage and help identify a support group to reduce feelings of isolation.
12
Get support while supporting. Advocacy work is rewarding but also fatiguing as
the slow wheels of bureaucracy turn and systems are exposed.
13
Ask patients what they desire.
14
Do not stereotype, project, or distance (Pinderhughes, 1995).
15
Investigate the availability of a patient navigator to help the woman manage and
travel to doctor’s appointments.
16
Investigate 12-Step programs, family therapy, and other services and referrals to
deal with a multiplicity of challenges that arise when people contend with poverty
and the trauma of not having a safe place to sleep at night.
17
Receive consultation and in some cases supervision from other professionals
about the best course of action.
18
Explore existing coping skills and behaviors (e.g., panhandling for drugs) and
their impact on life quality (e.g., exposure to violence).
19
Give the woman examples of where bias is imbedded in institutions and society.
20
Share how others have coped and survived when confronting a similar situation.
To Dulany (1990), empowerment “is another term for finding one’s own voice. In order
to speak, we must know what we want to say; in order to be heard, we must dare to
speak” (p. 133). A social justice framework asks, “Whose voices are heard first and/or
above the others and why?” Vera and Speight (2003) argue that although a
multiculturally competent counselor is trained to look for discrimination and develop
sensitivity to oppression, counseling professionals are not directed to advocate for the
elimination of oppression or exploitation. Mandatory ethics, or action taken to avoid
breaking the rules, differs from advocacy. Aspirational ethics, conversely, is taking
action at the highest possible level or eliminating oppression, which translates into
greater emphasis on prevention, not remediation, and less of a focus on the individual and
more on sociohistorical contexts. A communitarian model of justice based on collective
decision making and community empowerment is advocated.
Helms (2003) contends that the multicultural competencies and its predecessors offer a
framework for doing social justice within the existing structure of counseling and
psychology. He acknowledges that the reality of social service delivery may not be
supportive of a communitarian model of justice that Vera and Speight (2003) advocate.
STORYTELLING: UNITED WORK
In my research with highly educated black women and their experiences with
microaggressions, all 17 women, in their 20s to 50s, stated that microaggressions had
occurred in their lives and were chronic. The three researchers, too, ethnically diverse and
highly educated black women, had our own experiences with microaggressions. Some of
the study participants were in counseling programs where they experienced
microaggressions from other students and faculty. I do not know of any faculty or
underrepresented graduate student of color who does not contend with regular
microaggressions, which are a source of psychological and physical stress. In others
words, all of the faculty and students that I know who are from underrepresented groups
contend with regular microaggressions. Do microaggressions reflect social injustice? I
believe they do, yet why do they exist? More specifically, what can mental health
professions do toward changing and restructuring academic and work environments that
produce and perpetuate microaggressing behaviors? Dr. Chester Pierce wrote about
microaggressions during the 1980s, when I was a graduate student at Harvard. I write
about them 30 years later. Are things better? In 1982, I arrived in Cambridge for graduate
school without a cell phone or laptop (such technology was not accessible to me, if
readily available). There were .25 cent public phones and computer labs. More than three
decades later, technology is a different world regarding how we write our manuscripts
and communicate with others in the states and abroad. With all of our guidelines, cultural
competencies, ethical codes (which were debased by APA’s involvement with torture as
noted in the Hoffman Report), benchmarks, and accreditation commissions, where will
counselors, psychologists, and social workers stand with social justice change in 30
years? What kind of change will we see, feel, and recognize with racialized
microaggressions, particularly those that occur within our professional organizations,
academic departments, and work environments?
STORYTELLING: CHANGE AND COSTS
A dear friend of mine who lives abroad was home over the summer. She said, “There
have been so many civil rights changes in America.” What she was referring to included
the following:
1. Two females, West Point Academy graduates, have completed the elite Army Rangers
training
2. The Confederate flag was removed from South Carolina state grounds
3. Same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states
What she was not referring to included the following:
1. A recent mini documentary by Gandbhir and Foster (2015) where black and white
parents’ admonitions to their black sons about racial profiling, the inevitability of
encounters with police, and strategies for staying alive were chronicled. Black parents
spoke of the requirement to have such daunting discussions with their sons, whereas other
groups were not. Another documentary referring to black daughters is needed given their
negative encounters with police as well.
2. That little has improved in this country’s gun laws, even after 26 souls were lost in
December 2012 in Sandy Hook School, Newtown, Connecticut.
3. The increasing gap between the wealthiest and the less wealthy.
4. The patriarchal society that produces and perpetuates the objectification of people,
across gender, race, nationality, age, and sexuality in the human sex trafficking.
5. The misguided notion that the presence of people of color indicates that power and
privilege have been unpacked and discussed.
6. The fact that sexual assault on college campuses is an epidemic.
Self-Check Exercise 19.1
Social Justice in Action
The number of homeless families has increased and now represents 41% of persons who
are homeless. Denials for bed requests have also increased (National Coalition for the
Homeless, 2014). Victim blaming increases as the problem of homelessness is located
intraindividually as opposed to an examination of structural issues, such as the high costs
of housing, a minimum wage that encourages poverty, the pathologizing of women who
stay in violent domestic situations due to limited choices, patriarchal socialization that
encourages women’s dependence on men, and the long-term effects of psychological
trauma. As you read, there are children in each of our respective towns and cities who are
sleeping in cars, on a relative’s couch, or in some other makeshift arrangement.
An example of social justice is educating a homeless woman with clinical depression
about the resources and programs available to help her and her unborn child, who she
wants desperately to keep and raise. Although adoption is an option—sometimes a good
one—it is not always the best one due in part to the problematic images of the homeless
and poor: “The U.S. has become one of the most dangerous democracies in which poor
women and their children can live” (Cosgrove, 2006, p. 201). With a just distribution of
resources, fiscal and human, this woman may be able to revamp her life and take care of
her child. Social justice is oriented to examining why this woman and others like her are
not perceived to be entitled to and not worthy of more.
STORYTELLING: UNABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THAT REQUEST
There are multiple systems that encourage women’s resignation and capitulation. Social
justice recognizes that assertive, strong women are inconsistent with society’s notions of
appropriate gendered behavior. Women who have a disability, are nonwhite, large
bodied, and speak with a non-European accent pay a price when they push against (e.g.,
resist) gendered behaviors. Social justice should not require women, across sources of
difference, to acquiesce their power in the name of hegemony or white privilege. I had a
patient many years ago who had tremendous work stress. She felt powerless in the
presence of not only her supervisors but also colleagues, who often asked her to take on
their share of the work given her reputation of being nice and efficient. What most people
did not know about her was that she felt tremendous resentment when people, in her
view, shirked their responsibilities and loaded them onto her. She did not know how to
express her feelings and desires without erupting in inappropriate anger or tears. During a
session role-play, I asked her to represent one of her colleagues for whom she had a great
deal of anger. True to this role, she sounded and looked different from herself as she
provided a list of demands. I looked at her and said, “I am unable to accommodate that
request.” I offered no explanation, no capitulation, and no apologies. She tried this
technique at work and was amazed at how effective it was. A boundary had been
established. She used this same statement (which was about getting underneath her
learned desire to please people and gain their approval) with her family of origin. Why is
this story about an individual woman in this chapter on social justice? The woman in this
story represents countless women who experience institutional gender discrimination. As
a marginalized individual, she experienced occupational disparities, overrepresentation in
low paying jobs, and underrepresentation in positions of political and economic power
(Israel, 2006).
Power and Powerlessness
Powerlessness is operationalized as the “inability to direct the course of one’s life due to
societal conditions and power dynamics, lack of skills, or lack of faith that one can
change one’s life” (McWhirter, 1991, p. 224). It results in persons feeling unable to have
any meaningful impact on their lives. Feelings associated with this disempowered state
were identified by Pinderhughes (1989) as less comfort and pleasure, less gratification,
more pain, feelings of inferiority and insecurity, and a strong tendency for depression.
A disproportionate share of persons in poverty are people of color. Most jobs are
stratified by race, ethnicity, and gender, with women of color at the bottom of the
occupational hierarchy and white males at the top. Structural and institutional inequities
such as racism, higher rates of unemployment, and incarceration among men of color
have profound implications on the economic stability and well-being for the women and
children in these men’s lives. Race-based inequalities in access to (and quality of) health
care, along with higher rates of poverty and lack of insurance coverage, contribute to
marginalization and vulnerability to illness.
Racism and other sources of discrimination are bad for psychological health. An
accumulation of discrimination adversely impacts mental health and is related to negative
physiological reactions (Gibbons et al., 2014), lower feelings of belonging (Clark,
Mercer, Zeigler-Hill, & Dufrene, 2012), substance use, breast cancer, obesity (Pascoe &
Richman, 2009), and hypertension (Williams, Neighbors, & Jackson, 2003). Even
perceived discrimination can play an adverse role in increasing internalizing and
externalizing behaviors among members of stigmatized groups (Robinson-Wood, et al.,
2015).
In the midst of inequality, low-wage-earning people, unemployed people, immigrants,
people of color, and disabled people have relied on kinship networks, faith in unseen
forces, and cultural and ethnic practices to live their lives with dignity and power
(Robinson, 1999b). Acknowledgment of clients’ cultural practices and the ability for the
counseling professional to change beliefs and think differently and flexibly are critical to
empowerment and advocacy skills (Pinderhughes, 1995).
Strategies of coping and resistance to oppression do not suggest that people are not
vulnerable or that the structural inequalities are not crushing; indeed they are.
Empowerment and social justice seek to disrupt the forces that habituate in people’s lives
as a function of class and race oppression. When people are asked what makes them feel
powerful, they will respond with, for example, being listened to, being in a loving
relationship, having money in the bank, getting a good education, and having physical
health. These are individually focused forces, hallmarks of an individualistic society that
places the self at the center of analysis. A steady gaze at systemic and historical issues
and their impact on the personal is part of a social justice orientation.
More power is characterized by less tendency to depression, more pleasure, less pain, and
feelings of superiority (Pinderhughes, 1989). Ours is still a society in which white people,
the able-bodied, heterosexuals, the wealthy, Christians, and males are the referent point
for normalcy. Power is attributed to these identities and reflects a system of white
supremacy. There are implications here for curricula and practica restructuring in order to
disrupt this orientation. Counseling students in training and professionals need to assess
their belief systems. This work cannot be done in a superficial or cursory manner, but in a
way that reflects interrogation of socialization processes from parents, religious leaders,
and the educational system. Moreover, this work will facilitate an understanding of the
experiences of oneself and others within a particular group (Pope-Davis, Liu, Toporek, &
Brittan-Powell, 2001).
Gender and race identities do not neatly line up with psychological empowerment or
powerlessness (Robinson, 1999a). Power and powerlessness are not mutually exclusive
categories in people’s lives. Each gender and race has unique feelings of power and
powerlessness (Swanson, 1993). People with marginalized identities need not internalize
feelings of less power, yet many counseling graduate students confuse marginalization
with internalization. Exposure to multicultural topics in the format they are traditionally
delivered may not increase competence about these and other dynamics (Pope-Davis et
al., 2001).
Social Justice and the Therapeutic Process
Some insurance co-pays are over $40 for each behavioral health weekly visit. When
people are trying to pay rent or their mortgages, buy heating fuel, and food, the
behavioral health co-pay may not rise to the top as a priority. Sliding-scale fees can make
therapy more accessible to many clients. As discussed earlier, social justice paradigm
supports pro bono or reduced fee services as necessary and allowable given
professionals’ need and right to be appropriately remunerated.
Structural elements to the therapeutic relationship exist (Mencher, 1997), and even
though the therapist exercises authority and the client moves into a place of vulnerability,
empowerment and social justice are central to the process (Jordan, 1997b). Structural
elements that define the therapeutic relationship include the following:
1 The formal beginning and ending.
2 The client or insurance company pays, and the therapist is paid.
3 The client asks for help with some clinical distress, and the therapist provides help
based on his or her training and expertise.
4 The client shares more information about his or her life than the counselor shares about
his or her life.
5 The therapist agrees to keep the information confidential, whereas the client can share
this information with whomever he or she pleases.
6 The relationship is dedicated to the growth of the client.
7 Counselors operate within these structures and, in an effort to empower clients, need to
respect their clients and the values that clients bring to counseling.
Helping professionals who operate from clients’ strengths and believe in clients’ abilities
to positively affect the quality of their own lives are in a better position to facilitate client
empowerment (McWhirter, 1991; Pinderhughes, 1989). Mental health professionals who
perceive clients to be victims because of the oppressiveness of the social context and that
they and their clients have little hope of transforming existing power dynamics are not
instrumental in creating transforming conditions.
Counselors need to be careful about mystifying the counseling event, particularly if it
accentuates the power differential between client and counselor. Balancing the power
differential between client and counselor requires empathy, a necessary tool. It represents
one of the most important themes in therapy or counseling (Pinderhughes, 1989).
Therapists are not superior, yet clients experience shame from a therapist’s attitude that
reinforces a power differential or the feeling that the therapist knows better than the client
does about their life.
Power can be abused by fostering client dependence; it can also be used constructively to
facilitate growth and insight. Productive and constructive power is at the center of a
counseling relationship when a counselor creates a holding environment for a client to
make passage through a difficult period. Destructive power occurs when one has access
to resources and dominates another and imposes one’s will through threats or the
withholding of certain desired rewards despite implicit or explicit opposition from the
less powerful.
Accepting the reality of one’s powerless position can bring a sense of power
(Pinderhughes, 1989). Empowering the client in therapy to reframe or resist a situation
while engaged in social action outside of the therapeutic event to advocate for living
wages or health care legislation for children and other issues is reflective of social justice.
As an essential component of social justice, empathy supports respectful interactions
between the client and therapist. Where appropriate, the counselor advocates on behalf of
the client by, for example, making out-of-office interventions. Empowerment, advocacy,
and out-reach differ substantially from rescuing.
Outreach refers to large-scale, direct services that are designed to address existing or even
anticipated obstacles to psychological growth and occurs within the context of a
community (Vera, Daly, Gonzales, Morgan, & Thakral, 2006). Outreach requires that
professionals leave their work settings and venture into rural and/or urban communities
with people who may be very different with respect to class, language dominance, race,
and employment status. The benefit of outreach is that much needed resources are made
available to communities through partnerships with a number of agencies, including
churches, schools, and community centers.
McWhirter (1991) reminded us that taking responsibility for doing what another person is
capable of doing for the self is disempowering. There are some acts that require the
presence of another, and although this is not rescuing, it is being with another. This
process of “being with” describes mutuality in counseling and represents an intimate
space inhabited by two people governed by a professional context.
Feminist Therapy and Social Justice
Feminist therapy differs philosophically from traditional psychotherapy in that it seeks to
understand the experiences of women within their social contexts while challenging
systematic gender inequality. It is reflective of a social justice orientation in its
observation and open critique of injustice and structural inequalities. More contemporary
forms of psychotherapy have challenged the premises of Freudian psychology, such as
Adler and Rogers (see Corey, 1991). These theorists, however, have often been silent
about the social-political contexts in which men and women exist—contexts constructed
by gender and race relations, which for many people are oppressive and marginalizing.
Karen Horney, for example, was a trailblazer in feminine psychology, and her work, to
this day, continues to offer the profession a refreshing look at the development of
neurosis and its etiology in one’s family of origin.
Devoe (1990) stated that “feminist therapy emphasizes the need for social change by
improving the lives of women rather than by helping them adjust to traditional roles in
society” (p. 33). Feminist therapy critiques how a male-dominated and patriarchal society
deems women as other, inferior, and invisible. Because psychotherapy is largely
influenced by dominant cultural values, the mental health system has participated in the
oppression of women and people of color by assessing women from a male and white
model. One strength of feminist therapy is that it acknowledges the patriarchal and unjust
society in which women and men live and thus seeks to educate people while honoring
women’s anger and men’s sadness (Devoe, 1990). A social justice agenda allows us to
see that men have been adversely affected under the system of patriarchy and sexism as
well (Robinson, 1999a).
Western psychotherapy is influenced by a psychoanalytical framework, European
philosophers, and a hierarchical structure based on hegemonic power. More specifically,
the therapist, historically most likely a male, is seen as the expert, and the client,
traditionally a woman, is recognized as dependent. In therapy and psychiatry, women
have been more likely to receive a diagnosis of mental disorder, are more often
prescribed psychotropic medication, and take more prescription and over-the-counter
drugs than men (Crose, Nicholas, Gobble, & Frank, 1992).
Ethnic minority clients are also more likely to receive inaccurate diagnoses, be assigned
to junior professionals, and receive low-cost, less preferred treatment consisting of
minimal contact, medication, or custodial care rather than individual psychotherapy
(Ridley, 1989, p. 55). Feminist therapy questions this construction of power and injustice.
It proposes instead a more collaborative, egalitarian relationship between client and
counselor if therapy is to be therapeutic and ultimately empowering.
Devoe (1990) spoke about an egalitarian relationship and the importance of an emotional
link between the client and counselor prior to effective therapeutic work occurring. “The
counselor must view the client as an equal both in and out of the counseling relationship
… [T]he personal power between the client and counselor should be equal whenever
possible” (p. 35). It means that when our clients ask us about who we are, it is important
not to hide behind a mask of professionalism and see therapy as going in only one
direction. Certainly some disclosures are inappropriate, but whether we have kids, places
of birth, or vacation destinations might describe joining with clients, not excessive and
inappropriate disclosure. Nonetheless, some therapists may not approve of this level of
disclosure. Personal differences apply and need to be respected.
Social justice encourages an interrogation of power dynamics in therapy. If the therapist’s
underlying premise is that the patient intuitively knows what is in his or her best interest,
then the therapist accepts a different power position. Professional training and years of
relevant experience provide insight into mental health issues, but this learned and
experiential knowledge does not replace the woman’s subjective and constructed
knowledge even if she has yet to tap into it. Finally, a feminist perspective allows the
therapeutic process to unfold at the pace that is most comfortable for the client.
A substantial number of women and men may not understand the value of psychotherapy
in general and feminist or womanist therapy in particular. We may have to explain to
some patients why or how meeting with a clinician on a weekly basis and talking about
their feelings is associated with the patient’s symptom reduction. Participation in
movements for social justice can increase gender consciousness, yet some women of
color privilege uniting with men of color toward racial equality over increasing gender
consciousness with white women (Chow, 1991). From a dialectical perspective,
increasing both racial and gender consciousness is crucial because women of color are
always, at all times, both female and racial and ethnic beings. Comas-Diaz and Greene
(1994) spoke about the intersections of these identities: “Due to the pervasive effects of
racism and the concomitant need for people of color to bond together, women of color
experience conflicting loyalties in which racial solidarity often transcends gender and
sexual orientation solidarity” (pp. 4–5).
Race intersects and thus shapes gender as well (Tatum, 1997). Privilege and oppression
conjointly intensify and/or counter each other, and, along with structural effects of
sexism, colonialism, and capitalism, leave some clients not only vulnerable but physically
and mentally exhausted (Kliman, 2005). Becoming aware of gender issues may be
difficult for many women of color who contend with race, class, as well as gender
discrimination. It is common for women to feel overwhelmed at the dynamics of multiple
layers of oppression. Layers of oppression should not be confused with race and gender.
Racism is different from race (from being black), and sexism is different from gender
(from being a woman).
Respecting the patient and their personal narrative within a culturally competent and
holding environment is social justice work. (Pope-Davis et al., 2001). In an effort to
honor the client’s cultural, gender, religious, and political backgrounds and the
cumulative impact on the therapeutic process, each client must be viewed from her
worldview (Arredondo, Psalti, & Cella, 1993). Social justice orientation considers the
external and internal factors that affect behavior, prior to and within therapy. Toward this
end, Pope-Davis et al. (2001) suggest that more qualitative research needs to be
conducted to move away from self-reports, focus on context, and lessen researcher bias.
Warren and Constantine (2007) recognize the pressure of getting tenure at some
institutions and encourage participatory action research as an example of social justice
research efforts. Within participatory action research, participants are empowered to
voice their concerns about structural inequalities and its personal impact.
Patient Navigation: Social Justice Example
In 1989, Patient Navigation began as a result of the work of physician Harold Freeman.
As he traveled through America, he listened to the stories of poor people diagnosed with
cancer. A year later in 1990, the first American Cancer Society Patient Navigation
program was initiated in Harlem at the Harlem Hospital Center in New York City.
Harlem is a predominantly black and brown community, and many residents live in
poverty and have low levels of education. The purpose of this program was to reduce the
barriers that poor people encountered while seeking health care. What he found was
published in the American Cancer Society’s Report to the Nation on Cancer in the Poor.
Key findings were as follows:
1 Low income people meet significant barriers when they attempt to seek diagnosis and
treatment of cancer.
2 Low income people and their families make sacrifices to obtain cancer care and often
do not seek care because of the barriers faced.
3 Low income people experience more pain, suffering, and death because of late
diagnosis and treatment at an incurable stage of the disease.
4 Fatalism about cancer is prevalent among the poor and prevents them from seeking
care.
Patient Navigation is meant to empower people and can be used by counseling
professionals when working with overwhelmed and physically ill clients who are
negotiating health systems for cancer care and chronic conditions. Counseling
professionals with a social justice orientation can work with clients overwhelmed by their
interactions with hospitals and imposing health care systems. Patient navigators are
trained to help patients move through the health care system by educating patients,
ensuring that the patient goes through with the treatment process, and assisting the patient
in negotiating obstacles to care, such as consulting with other providers (e.g.,
nutritionists) or finding additional assistance, such as someone to help with housecleaning, grocery, shopping, and child care. Obstacles to care include financial and
insurance difficulties, emotional concerns, and other barriers mentioned earlier such as
transportation problems. Assisting patients with getting their X-rays, test results, and
other records; making referrals to community services such as welfare, housing, home
care, and transportation; helping the patient deal with health challenges; securing second
opinions; and finding hospice care if necessary are all within the scope of navigators’
duties (Thomas, 2006).
Implications for Mental Health Professionals
The Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and
Organizational Change for Psychologists (APA, 2003), the Handbook for Social Justice
in Counseling Psychology, and the comprehensive competencies identified in 1996 by
Arredondo et al. articulate social justice within an ecological context. They encourage
mental health professionals to engage in culturally competent practice with people across
race, ethnic, and class groups. Knowledge of legal issues that affect clients’ lives, biases
in assessment and diagnostic instruments, and referral sources that can assist clients is
deemed critical. Although there has been greater explication of competencies and
guidelines in counseling and psychology, these resources, along with others, represent an
important social justice intervention (Ivey & Collins, 2003).
Action represents a different level of resistance to oppression and is a core component of
social justice. Action includes exercising institutional intervention skills on behalf of a
client, recognizing situations in clients’ lives and addressing the incident or perpetrator,
filing an informal complaint, filing a formal complaint, and so forth, as well as working
at an organizational level to address change whereby policies that discriminate and create
barriers are eliminated (Arredondo et al., 1996).
Many mental health professionals are inadequately prepared to work with clients who
present with concerns, such as worrying about physical and environmental safety levels
and confronting sociopolitical barriers to health care and quality housing (Washington,
1987). People of color as well as low-wage-earning white people have been treated
poorly by the mental health establishment, which is often insensitive to sociopolitical
realities that affect mental and social functioning. In some circumstances, having a oneon-one client–counselor relationship is not possible or even desirable due to lack of
access, unavailability of clinicians for a given area, or the client’s sense of mistrust about
the benefits and aims of therapy. For this reason, alternative healing strategies discussed
in Chapter 18 on spirituality may be helpful (see Case Study: The Socially Just and
Authentic Counselor).
Moreover, policy changes, (e.g., same-sex marriage), albeit groundbreaking and long
fought, do not erase subtle discrimination. Weber (2015) found that among 18 racially
diverse sexual minorities, the taxonomy of racial microaggressions identified by Sue et
al. (2007) as well as the sexual orientation and transgender microaggressions developed
by Nadal, Rivera and Corpus (2010) contributed to the identification of seven themes: (1)
Discomfort with/disapproval of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) experience,
(2) assumption of universal experience, (3) traditional gender role stereotyping, (4)
exoticization, (5) ascription of intelligence, (6) assumption of criminality, and (7) denial
of personal privacy.
Sherry Watt (2015), a leading voice in higher education and student personnel, has
created a theory called authentic, action-oriented framing for environmental shifts
(AAFES) method. The AAFES method describes the process qualities that she regards as
essential to transformational multicultural initiatives, which are closely aligned with a
social justice framework. There are three core qualities: (1) authenticity, which focuses
on how you engage with difference rather than concentration on dissecting the difference;
(2) being action-oriented, which emphasizes contemplative balance between dialogue
and taking action for social change; (3) and framing for environmental shifts, which
appeals to shifting the environment toward inclusion of Difference rather than a focusing
on ways the marginalized members of a community can survive or cope within
dehumanizing systems structurally designed to remain in place. The genius of her model
is its oppositional gaze to the status quo while believing in and striving for a paradigmatic
shift.
Case Study
The Socially Just and Authentic Counselor
Robert is a 39-year-old man. He is Shoshoni and married with a 10-year-old son. He is a
State Trooper. Robert is also a recovering alcoholic. He has not had a drink in 9 years.
Through Facebook, he connected with Loren who he met in college over 18 years ago.
Loren is married with an 8-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old daughter. She racially
identifies as white. A business trip took Lauren to Wyoming where Robert resides. After
sitting up and talking all night long, Robert and Loren decide that they should have gotten
together in college and decide to start an intimate relationship. Robert is ecstatic with
Loren. Their sex life is fantastic; they complete each other sentences, and they like the
same music, books, and have similar political views. Within a few weeks, Robert decides
to move to Colorado where Loren resides. He discusses this with his therapist, Anita,
who is concerned that Robert is moving too quickly and is headed for a fall. Anita is also
Native American. Robert has not told Loren he is a recovering alcoholic. In therapy,
Anita engages in a series of role plays with the goal of helping Robert to look critically at
his new relationship. She asks Robert to think about who else he knows in the state where
Loren resides. “What will your evenings and weekends be like when she is unavailable
and you are all alone?” Will this move create vulnerability in your life for drinking
alcohol to reappear? Robert assures Anita that he and Loren have made a commitment to
spend as much time together as possible. Anita asks Robert what he would do if after
moving to be near Loren, the relationship sours. Robert is offended by the question and
replies that he and Loren are old souls who have made a lifetime commitment to one
another. Anita gently confronts Robert and asks him how he will explain to his child that
he is leaving and will only see him twice a month instead of every day? Anita asks, “How
do you think your son will be impacted by your increased absence?” Upon hearing this
question, Robert becomes defensive and leaves the room. He returns after 10 minutes and
resumes therapy. Anita observes lability in Robert’s moods, which they have discussed in
therapy. Robert’s father left him and his siblings when he was a child. Robert said he
hated his father for this abandonment and does not want his son to hate him. Anita asks
Robert what the financial implications are for permanently leaving his job as opposed to
taking a leave of absence from his job and separating from his wife (as opposed to
divorcing). Robert says that he knows what he wants to do and does not see the point of a
leave of absence from his job or separating instead of divorcing. He and Loren are going
to marry once their divorces come through. Robert has told his wife about Loren and that
he plans to come home twice monthly in order to see his son. Robert finds a new job as a
security officer (the state where he moved was not hiring troopers) and rents an apartment
to be near Loren. His wife has put their home on the market and is distraught over her
husband’s decision to leave the family. She is looking for an apartment and additional
work to help meet new expenses associated with Robert’s departure. Once Robert moved,
he and Loren were excited about spending nearly every evening together, even if for just
20 minutes. Soon Robert noticed Loren putting distance between them. She seemed to
make excuses for why she could not spend as much time with Robert as he had desired.
About 1 month after Robert moved to be near Loren, she told him that it was not a good
idea after all for him to move and that although she wants to, she has decided not to leave
her husband. Loren’s older daughter saw a card that Robert had sent Loren, and she was
so upset by this card that she was inconsolable. Loren’s husband lives and works in
another state. Upon hearing the news from Loren, Robert bought alcohol and drank an
excessive amount. He told Loren that he had been dry for years but that he was going to
“check out.” Filled with guilt and panic, as well as concern for Robert’s safety, Loren
called the police. They arrive at Robert’s apartment to find him inebriated and confused.
His firearm was nearby but the safety was on and Robert did not say anything to the
officers to suggest he was suicidal or homicidal. Officers did not ask him why his firearm
was out. Robert wears a firearm daily and has a concealed license to do so. Still, Robert
was taken to a hospital, against his will, and kept for observation. The psychiatrist
describes Robert as noncooperative, dangerous, and diagnosed him with Alcohol induced
Psychosis and Substance Use Disorder (severe). He gave Robert Seroquel, a powerful
antipsychotic medication. In the morning, Robert said he feels like he has been hit by a
Mack truck. Upon his release from the hospital a few days later, Robert called Anita and
needed a crisis session over the phone. He was nearly incoherent—panicking,
hyperventilating, and regretting “ruining his life.” Anita spoke with Robert for 45
minutes. They made plans to speak again in a few days. Anita called the insurance
agency to inquire about reimbursement for phone therapy. She was told that insurance
does not pay for phone therapy, even in emergency situations. Anita decides to continue
to conduct phone therapy with Robert through a sliding scale. Robert’s new job does not
yet provide health insurance, and his personal finances have been strained due to the
costs associated with the move. Anita strongly encourages Robert to find a therapist
locally who can lay eyes on him. After each session, she e-mails her session notes to
herself for risk management and consults with a colleague. Anita knows that Robert is
very vulnerable and wants to help him through this crisis and protect herself in the event
of a catastrophic event. Anita knows that Robert enjoys tai chi and suggests that he do tai
chi to calm his mind and body. She also suggests that he speak to his sponsor that he had
years ago when he was drinking on a daily basis.
Questions
1 Do race and gender impact the diagnoses that are given to patients?
2 Could Anita have intervened any differently with Robert prior to his joining Loren?
Discussion and Integration
Why Robert was taken against his will to the hospital needs to be discussed. The
Constitution allows people to bear arms and Robert did not say anything to the officers
that was overtly problematic. He did tell Loren that he wanted to “check out.” Robert
made this statement after his girlfriend, for whom he risked everything, said that she
could not continue their relationship. Because of this statement from someone whose
blood alcohol level was over the legal limit, the police were called.
To best treat Robert, Anita’s knowledge of legal issues is critical as are referral
information and community resources. Action is a core component of social justice and
includes exercising institutional intervention skills on behalf of Robert. With respect to
Robert, this action could involve Anita speaking, upon written permission granted by
Robert, to a new therapist. It would also be helpful for Anita to speak with the
psychiatrist who released Robert from the hospital. The psychiatrist referred to Robert as
dangerous and prescribed a powerful antipsychotic drug. The psychiatrist’s comments are
now part of Robert’s medical record. This event is significant for a man who has a career
in law enforcement where he is charged with protecting the public from dangerous
people. Anita has decided to file an informal complaint with the Medical Board.
It is worthy to note that the ambulance drivers were able to escort Robert to the hospital
without his permission because the police gave them permission to do so. In some states,
a medical doctor or a police officer can commit people without their permission. We
know that Robert has stigmatized identities as a Native American man with a history of
alcoholism. His firearm was out and nearby on a table—this fact is concerning. The
police did not query Robert as to why his firearm was out. Robert was drunk in the
privacy of his home and was not disturbing the peace. He made no statements to the
officers about hurting himself or anyone else. When people say that they want to “check
out” after receiving devastating news, what do mental health professionals do with that
information? While this information should not be ignored and needs to be followed up—
the meaning of this statement must be clarified and considered in context with other
information.
Racial Inequities and Culturally Inappropriate Interventions
People of color have been treated poorly by the mental health establishment, which has a
history of being insensitive to the sociopolitical realities that affect mental and social
functioning among people of color. How was Robert’s behavior and demeanor affected
by the very recent break up with his girlfriend for whom he left his wife, child, home, and
job? Robert, as a recovering alcoholic, had been sober for 9 years but consumed so much
alcohol that he became inebriated. Is it possible that Robert is dealing with the
aftereffects of alcohol poisoning?
Many mental health professionals are inadequately prepared to competently work with
certain clients who present with particular concerns. In some circumstances, having a
one-on-one client–counselor relationship is not possible or even desirable due to lack of
access, unavailability of competent clinicians for a given area, or the client’s sense of
mistrust about the benefits and aims of therapy.
Perkins (2015) found that psychotherapy among some men has actually been unhelpful
(iatrogenic). Robert told Anita that he did not want another therapist and wants to
continue therapy only with Anita. Prior to Anita, Robert had a psychologist who was not
helpful. Robert is still reeling from his negative encounter with the psychiatrist at the
hospital. What does Anita do? Her client, who is in crisis, is in another state but refuses to
seek out a new therapist despite Anita’s recommendations. Although he is unwilling to
find a new therapist, he is committed to speaking twice weekly, by phone, with Anita and
is faithful about sending the mutually agreed upon amount for the sessions. Anita, in
consultation with a colleague, agrees to speak to Robert on the phone. She asks him when
he is planning to return home to visit his child and requests that Robert come in to the
office so that she can see him. Anita wants to be able to look her client in the face and see
his expressions, listen to the clarity of his speech, see if there are any tremors, and
evaluate his hygiene, mood, and any weight gain or loss.
Interventions
There are structural issues that work against Anita’s efforts to help her client. Although
most insurance companies will not pay for therapy conducted over the phone, the above
case study clearly demonstrates what can happen to a patient who is in crisis away from
his therapist. As well, what happens to clients’ mental health when clinicians are on
extended vacations or have moved out of state? Interventions are still needed particularly
when patients are in crisis, and yet therapists need to protect themselves. With some
insurance co-pays as high as $40 for each weekly visit (after deductibles), money is a
factor that hinders vulnerable patients’ access to therapy. Sliding-scale fees, which is
what Anita is doing, can make therapy more accessible to many clients. Granted she will
not be able to make a living seeing all of her patients on a sliding-scale basis, but she
realizes that continued psychotherapy with Robert is critical.
Robert has left his home, wife, child, job, and friends to be in a relationship with a
woman who has broken up with him just a month into his move. His losses are enormous,
and he deeply regrets his actions. Robert will need to rebuild. One task that Anita can
assist Robert with is not holding on to what was or could have been and embracing what
the reality is in front of him at the present. The following are both short- and long-term
interventions that may help Anita help Robert. Given the fragile state that Robert is in,
Anita will need to take action initially and make the following contacts as part of her
culturally oriented interventions:
1 Anita can contact centers for information about when and where tai chi members hold
their meetings.
2 Anita could contact Alcoholics Anonymous to see when the nearest meeting is.
3 Anita could contact men’s organizations to see if there are men’s groups or divorce
care groups.
4 Anita could encourage Robert to cope daily (e.g., get out of bed, take a shower, get
dressed, make a hot meal, take a walk, go to work, etc.)
5 Anita cares for herself while providing psychotherapeutic support to Robert. This work
is rewarding but also fatiguing.
6 Anita could collaborate with Robert in his own transformation—ask him what he
wants.
7 Anita avoids pathologizing Robert. She does not stereotype, project, or distance
(Pinderhughes, 1995).
8 Anita could encourage Robert to attend a 12-Step program, individual, and perhaps, in
time, family/marriage therapy with his wife/ex-wife.
9 Anita could encourage bibliotherapy where Robert can read how others have coped and
survived with difficult situations.
Anita will use a narrative therapy approach with Robert as a useful intervention. The
basic theme of narrative therapy is that the person is not the problem; the problem is the
problem (Boje, Alvarez, & Schooling, 2001). In this regard, Robert is not the problem.
Pursuing an unavailable woman is the problem. Being impulsive and acting out are the
problem. Narrative therapy holds that the knowledge and stories (narratives) that emanate
from culture, families, and experiences shape persons. Narrative therapy has to do with
learning to tell a different story of yourself. Different stories are possible, even with
respect to the same events.
Narrative Therapy Related Questions for Intervention:
1 What is the story that Robert might tell to himself about his move to be with Loren?
2 Was it courageous for Robert to want more love in his life?
3 What does Robert’s marriage want him to know about his level of happiness?
4 Why did Robert make room for this situation to unfold as it did, such that all is risked?
5 What does this situation tell Robert about his self- regard as a man, husband, and
father?
6 What is the clinical relevance of Robert repeating his father’s story?
7 What are different stories that Robert could choose that would best describe his life?
8 How does Robert want to live his life? What stories does Robert want to tell about
himself?
Once Robert has arrived at a more psychologically stable place, Anita will focus on two
different topic areas for psychotherapy.
First, Anita will explore Robert’s relationship with his father who abandoned the family
when Robert was a young child—it is clear there is conflict between Robert and his
father. Therapy could be a place where Robert could begin to heal this soul wound. Anita
knows that one task of adulthood is to unlearn many of the negative tapes received during
childhood and adolescence and to replace them with messages that affirm the self and
reflect who the individual has sculpted himself to be.
Second, she wants to explore any magical thinking that Robert may have. Robert has kept
a stable job for decades; he has been married to the same woman for 12 years and has
lived in the same house for as long. Anita questions if running away with Loren was an
attempt for Robert to undo the deep sadness from his childhood. Anita mines Robert’s
risk-taking and impulsivity.
Finally, Anita will take action that can have implications for other clients and their
clinicians. She plans to write a letter to the Insurance Commissioner and lobby, along
with major mental health organizations, to change the current policy that does not provide
payment to practitioners with established patients for phone sessions, particularly in
emergencies.
Summary
This chapter discussed an expansion of a mental health professional’s role to include
being an active change agent against structural inequalities that foster inequity across
race, gender, and class. Social justice was defined and the relationship between social
justice, social action, empowerment, and advocacy was discussed. The relationship
between cultural counseling competencies, ethical guidelines, for psychologists, and
social justice was made. A case study integrated the elements of competence, advocacy,
and social action within a social justice context and examined the nuances of risk
management, policy implications, and the impact of discrimination were examined.
Purchase answer to see full
attachment