Chapter 1
Counselors as Agents of Social Justice
Courtland C. Lee, Romina Baldwin, Suelle Micallef MamarĆ , and Lauren Quesenberry
If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.
āErnesto āCheā Guevara
Social justice has become a crucial concept in the theory and practice of counseling. It has been labeled the āfifth force,ā following the paradigms of the psychodynamic approach, the cognitive-behavioral approach, humanism, and multiculturalism (Ratts, D'Andrea, & Arredondo, 2004). Counseling for social justice is perceived to be the next logical evolutionary step from multicultural counselingāa move from understanding the experiences of oppressed groups toward social action with the goal of achieving social equity for these groups. Improving society by challenging systemic inequities has been an important concept in counseling literature for some time (Banks & Martens, 1973; Gunnings & Simpkins, 1972; Lewis, Arnold, House, & Toporek, 2003; Lewis, Lewis, & Dworkin, 1971). Social justice offers a direction for social action on the part of counselors.
To support the importance of social justice and counselors taking part in social action, authors have begun to challenge the notion of value neutrality in the field of counseling (McClure & Russo, 1996; Seem & Hernandez, 1998). Value neutrality assumes that the act of counseling operates in a vacuum that is free of sociopolitical considerations. The assumption of value neutrality serves to support the status quo of inequity in society (McClure & Russo, 1996; Seem & Hernandez, 1998). By neglecting societal inequities, environmental conditions that affect individual clients go undetected (McClure & Russo, 1996; Moeschberger & Ordonez, 2003; Seem & Hernandez, 1998). This eventually leads to a āblame the victimā mentality, and clients' problems are seen as originating internally (McClure & Russo, 1996; Seem & Hernandez, 1998). Consequently, prescribed interventions call for clients to adapt to unjust or inequitable social systems, leaving larger societal issues unaddressed. Under the banner of value neutrality, the counseling profession runs the risk of perpetuating an inequitable society. Thus, the counseling profession has been called upon to move to a stance that supports social action (McClure & Russo, 1996).
This call to social action has been underscored by the ACA Code of Ethics, which prescribes the role and responsibility of counselors as agents of social justice. According to section A.7.a: āWhen appropriate counselors advocate at individual, group, institutional, and societal levels to address potential barriers and obstacles that inhibit access and/or the growth and development of clientsā (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014, p. 5).
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a conceptual framework of counseling for social justice. It explores counseling not only as an intervention into the lives of clients but as an action both with and for clients in social, political, and economic arenas.
The Globalization of Counseling in a World of āSavage Inequalitiesā
In discussing the concept of social justice in contemporary counseling practice, the growing international context of the profession must be considered. There is a growing worldwide awareness of the profession, and counselors are becoming involved in global efforts to promote well-being and human development (Lee & Na, 2013). This awareness on the part of the counseling profession reflects an emphasis on the concept of globalization. Globalization is the reality shaped by an increasingly integrated world economy, new information and communications technology, the emergence of an international knowledge network, and other forces beyond the control of economic, cultural, and social institutions (UNESCO, 2009). Globalization has fostered a focus on internationalization, and institutions and governments are implementing a variety of policies and programs in response to globalization (UNESCO, 2009). The world, in essence, has become a āglobal villageā significantly enhanced by universal improvements in communication and travel (Lee, 1997).
As institutions and governments grapple with responses to globalization, so too must the profession of counseling. A review of events associated with globalization suggests that counselors in their work are often confronted with a world of savage inequalities, a term coined by American author Jonathan Kozol (1991) in a discussion of the disparities in American education based on class and race. However, savage inequalities transend the American education framework and the term is used today in reference to the state of the world. The following list of worldwide savage inequalities is not exhaustive, but it is indicative of the responsibility counselors have within a global context.
Africa
- Specific foreign (Asian) business interests are purchasing large tracts of land in Ethiopia and inadvertantly depriving the Ethiopian people of the economic benefits of land ownership (Holden, Deininger, & Ghebra, 2011).
- In Somalia, children as young as 9 have been forcibly abducted and used in combat as soldiers (Amnesty International, 2011b; Human Rights Watch, 2012; Ortiz-Ospina & Roser, 2018; UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2013; UNICEF, 2006).
- In sub-Saharan Africa, 33 million primary school-aged children do not go to school, and 18 million of these children are girls (Rosenberg, 2012; UNICEF, 2009; World Health Organization, 2009). Only two-thirds of children who start primary school reach the final grade (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012).
- In Uganda, a child who quits attending school is 3 times more likely to be HIV-positive later in life than a child who completes a basic education (De Walque, 2007; UNAIDS, 2003).
- An estimated 5,500 AIDS deaths occur each day in Africa (Lau & Muula, 2004).
- Women in many parts of Africa are subjected to attacks on their humanity, including facing genital mutilation, merely because of their gender (UNICEF, 2012a, 2013); are being forced into marriage as childen (CEWLA, 2002; Forced Marriage Unit, 2006; Garcia-Moreno, Jansen, Ellsberg, Heise, & Watts, 2006: Home Affairs Committee, 2008; UNFPA, 2005); and are victims of honor killings at much higher rates than men (Khafagy, 2005; NGO Service Centre and Alliance for Arab Women, 2005).
- It is widely known that the effects of climate change are not evenly spread out between countries and regions. Africa is responsible for only 3.8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, but it is suffering most from the devasting effects of climate change (Patz, 2007; United Nations Development Programme, 2008).
- Despite its rich oil resources, Egypt continues to struggle with extensive poverty, chronic unemployment, severe strains on infrastructure/state services, threats to social cohesion, and increasingly visible economic inequality. Nearly half the population of Egypt live on less than $2.00 USD per day (Bales, 2012). Shortly after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, a group of women began protesting and demanding equal rights. Some of the protesters were incarcerated and subjected to virginity tests (Amnesty International, 2011a, 2012; CIHRS, 2012).
The Americas
- In the United States, for every dollar of assets owned by a single Black or Latina woman, a member of the Forbes 400 has over $40 million (Johnson, Smeeding, & Boyle Torrey, 2005; Smeeding & Rainwater, 2004).
- Any one of the 10 richest U.S. citizens has enough income to pay for a room for every homeless person in the country for an entire year (UNICEF, 2005; United Nations Development Programme, 2005).
- The pervasive achievement gap in U.S. education continues. Recent data suggest that the achievement gap between rich and poor children is more pervasive than the gap between Black and White children, suggesting that socioeconomic status is a stronger indicator of educational inequality than race (Donald, 2012; Reardon, 2011).
- Mass incarceration has had a devastating effect on Blacks and Hispanics in the United States. Blacks are 6 times more likely to be incarcerated than Whites, and non-White Hispanics are almost 3 times more likely to be incarcerated than Whites. Incarceration hits hardest at young Black and Hispanic men without a high school education. An astounding 11% of Black men between 20 and 34 years of age are behind bars. Much of the racial d...
