Journal for Social Action in Counseling & Psychology
The Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology promotes deep reflection on community change and system transformation in which counselors, psychologists, and other human service professionals play a role. This open access journal aims to highlight ‘engaged scholarship’ and the very important social change work done by professionals and activists that would not normally find its way into publication. There are no fees associated with submitting or publishing an article in this journal.
Ball State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and University Libraries
By submitting to JSACP, the author(s) agree to the terms of the Author Agreement. Beginning in 2018, all authors retain copyrights associated with their article contributions and agree to make such contributions available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license upon publication in JSACP. Copyrights to articles published prior to 2018 have been transferred from the authors to JSACP.
International Psychology's Responsibility in Social Justice and Social Change
The undertaking of The Handbook of International Psychology (2nd edition) must have been a daunting, yet very much needed task. The seemingly Sisyphean task of presenting the history and current state of psychology across the globe has been met yet again in the second edition, very much needed after twenty years since the first volume was published.
Copyright (c) 2026 Falu Rami, Laura Dryjanska https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Therapists’ Perceptions Toward Social Justice
The number of children of minoritized backgrounds from low socioeconomic backgrounds has increased in the United States. This shift has heightened concerns about the well-being of these children. Play therapists, trained to work closely with children, are expected to meet the needs of all children and promote social justice advocacy on behalf of their clients including children. Existing scholarship is limited, however, when understanding play therapist efforts to engage in advocacy. This phenomenological pilot study explored play therapists' perceptions of their social justice advocacy. The main findings revealed five themes: social justice, advocacy, training, challenges, and suggestions. Implications of these findings, future research directions, and limitations of the study are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2026 abdelaziz elmadani, Cherise Chancellor https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Exposure to traumatic stressors is common among refugees. This is true for Yazidi refugees, who have experienced immense pre and post-migration trauma. Two separate, but often concurrent, outcomes of exposure to traumatic events are posttraumatic responses and posttraumatic growth. While both are common, the literature tends to highlight negative outcomes. This study explored the migration experiences and needs of Yazidi youth refugees in Canada. Using Photovoice, an arts-based research design that placed the youth at the helm of the research process, the perspective of Yazidi youth was explored. Data was analyzed using participatory analysis, structured from Wang and Burris (1997) three-stage approach. Through collaborative discussions, five themes were identified by the youth: Educating Others on Yazidis and Our Experiences, Bullying and Racism, Help Families in Iraq, Rise Against the Oppressive Government, and Desire to be There to Help. Within these themes, the youth demonstrated the ability for growth and emotional distress to coexist. The use of Photovoice as a research design allowed youth to be placed in control of the data generation and analysis, and this facilitated their empowerment. Recommendations were shared to support youth in maintaining control over their narratives, while emphasizing the importance of building relationships and working with youth to tackle systemic and structural issues.
Copyright (c) 2026 Charlotte Finnigan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Exploring Factors that Foster Social Justice Courage and Action Among Psychologists and Counselors
The mental health profession calls on counselors and psychologists to engage in social justice advocacy and charges psychology and counseling training programs to prepare future professionals for this critical work. Yet research has found that although there is an intent to do social action there is a disconnect between the intention and social activism. We propose that courage is an essential missing link that may diminish the gap between social justice intention and action. This study explores how psychologists and counselors develop the courage to take such action. Understanding this process could inform innovative training strategies to better equip students to engage in social action upon entering the field. This qualitative study examines the development of social justice courage and the capacity to confront systemic injustices through deliberate and planned action despite risking adverse consequences. Findings reveal that social justice courage is a multidimensional construct encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components, including conviction, critical consciousness, self-awareness, risk-taking, and support networks. Implications for training, professional practice, and future research are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rita Chi-Ying Chung, Fred, Joseph https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Research identity is a critical component of counselor education, yet little is known about the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) graduate counseling students engaged in academic research. This interpretive phenomenological analysis study explored how BIPOC counseling students navigate research training, and examined systemic barriers, motivations, and factors that influenced their development as researchers. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 11 participants in CACREP-accredited programs. The analysis revealed four central themes and stages of researcher identity development: (a) Roots of inspiration, (b) Pathway to readiness, (c) Research in motion and (d) Grounded in growth. The results also suggested the need for more inclusive, equity centered research training in counselor education and offered recommendations for supporting novice counseling student researchers.
Copyright (c) 2025 Alfonso Ferguson, LaShawn M. Adams, Olivia A. Fadul, Estefanie Ceballo, Shanta Pamphile, Daylan Moore, Sunanda M. Sharma https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
School counseling is built on the American School Counselor Association National Model (2019, 2025), which includes heavy emphasis on individualist-focused student standards and isolationist practice (Drake et al., 2024b). While the field has undergone some revision, we continue to lack methods for visioning and visions for abolition in our praxis. Without liberatory visions for abolition, our traditional approaches and models of school counseling will only prefigure more racial capitalism, more white supremacy, and more state violence in schools. As part of a larger, year-long Critical Participatory Action Research project, this article focuses on the abolitionist visioning generated by a community of practice, including school counselors, community organizers, and a school counselor educator, using arts-based exploration. Our findings center the collective analysis and meaning-making of our community of practice, elevating the visions of on-the-ground school counselors and organizers and honoring local wisdom to guide practice rather than relying on Westernized, meritocratic school counseling models.
Copyright (c) 2025 Riley Drake, Renae Mayes, Abby Smith, Ingrid Lyberg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Behavioral Health Innovations during COVID in Black and Hispanic Communities
In an effort to address behavioral health disparities, authors conducted a community engagement research study to identify innovative practices that behavioral health agencies utilized in Black and Hispanic communities during COVID-19. Research methods included community agency input, a targeted survey of 15 behavioral health agencies, and focus groups. Authors identified innovative practices in eight areas of physical safety, emotional safety, accessibility through technology, accessibility for face-to-face counseling, affordability, leveraging resources, availability, and changes in procedures. Authors discuss recommendations and implications for social justice action to decrease behavioral health disparities.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jennifer Baggerly, Samuel Bore, Constance Lacy, Corron Sanders, Erica Pouncie https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Taking action toward racial and economic justice
On November 21, 2024, we had the great honor, privilege, and pleasure to conduct a highly revealing, engaging, and intimate interview with Professor Rebecca L. Toporek about their lifelong investment in social justice and action work. Professor Toporek serves as a faculty member in the Department of Counseling at San Francisco State University. They have been a psychologist and counselor educator for 20 years after serving as a community college counselor and associate dean. Their scholarship has focused on social justice advocacy and activism, backlash, racism, economic justice, and college and career counseling. They have written or co-written over 70 journal articles and book chapters, were co-editor and co-founder of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, co-developer of the American Counseling Association Advocacy Competencies, and co-edited five books on multicultural practice and social justice including Taking Action: Creating Social Change through Strength, Solidarity, Strategy and Sustainability. They co-produced the video, Helping counselors and psychologists as advocates and activists. They are also a daughter, sister, partner, and mother of two awesome 20-somethings. Our interview with Professor Toporek addressed their long-standing experiences that led to their social justice and action work, their role models and mentors, and their challenges and opportunities. Professor Toporek also shared their thoughts on how counseling and psychology have evolved in terms of social justice and action work, and where the fields were heading. Finally, Professor Toporek reflected on the 18-year history of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, and they presented recommendations to strengthen the journal.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lawrence H. Gerstein, Giuseppina Marsico https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Barriers to Mental Health Care for Low-Income Clients As Perceived By Counsellors
This study aimed to answer the question, “What have [counselors] found to be the least helpful aspects of counseling with clients facing low income?” One hundred thirteen counselors were recruited via mass email, completed an online survey, and participated in individual interviews. Using a group concept mapping procedure, participants grouped the data into seven concepts, including barriers due to low income and employment, systemic barriers for clients, obstacles due to trauma, competing needs and priorities, biased approaches, limits to real-world helpfulness of counseling, and negative impacts of systems on and for counselors. The results highlight the importance of identifying and addressing inequities faced by clients living with a low income to increase the accessibility and availability of mental health services for all.
Copyright (c) 2025 Riley Keast, Marguerite Lengyell, Charlotte Finnigan, Jason Brown, Melissa Jay https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Challenging Mental Health Professionals to Look Beyond the Consulting Room
William Doherty and Tai Mendenhall's work on the "Citizen Therapist" model bridges psychotherapy with social engagement, emphasizing the interplay between mental health and societal factors. Their book critiques hyper-individualism in therapy, advocating for therapists to address systemic issues such as political polarization, racism, and culturally sensitive healthcare. In addition to outlining the rationale and practical guidelines for mental health professionals to collaborate with their fellow citizens, the book provides examples of programs aimed at addressing community conflicts, promoting healthy lifestyles, and enhancing family life. The model emphasizes community-driven solutions while maintaining professional boundaries, highlighting the connection between individual well-being and societal health.
Copyright (c) 2025 Russell Searight https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
COVID-19 generated a health crisis and major loss of life throughout the world. Asian Americans (AA) have been uniquely impacted during this time by anti-Asian racism, at times blaming AA for the pandemic. A few years after the emergence of COVID-19, studies now show that anti-Asian violence during the pandemic opened historic wounds and exacerbated psychological legacies of trauma uniquely felt by AA. In response, a national group of interdisciplinary AA women activists developed a community-based photovoice project called Asians* Unmasked. AA in the United States submitted photographs online and shared their experiences and ideas about social change during the early months of the pandemic (March 2020 - June 2020). Participants answered three questions adapted from the photovoice SHOWeD technique about their images as they related to their COVID-19 experiences. Fifty-five ethnically diverse AA (15-78 years old) submitted 82 photos. Using a cross-case qualitative analysis, seven domains were identified: (a) life and community changes, (b) connection and isolation, (c) racism and oppression, (d) health and mental health, (e) service to others, (f) resiliency and hope, and (g) ways to change the world after COVID-19. This article intends to “bring the gallery to the academy,” and share participants’ voices, photographs, and calls for change.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sriya Bhattacharyya, Dj Ida, Ellen Park, Allyson Goto, Janet Namkung, Jen Nguyen, Pata Suyemoto https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
A Community-Engaged Exploration of Childhood Adversity and Resilience to Inform Mental Health Intervention
This study investigated a link between adverse community environments and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) using the pair of ACEs (POA) framework to better understand community members’ perspectives on how they were impacted across the lifespan by their childhood experiences. In addition, we identified mitigating factors that played a role for participants in building individual and community resilience. Researchers utilized a community-based participatory research approach in conjunction with qualitative methodology to explore the experiences of 15 community members. Nine themes emerged identifying both adversity and protective factors across the family, community, institutional, and structural levels. Findings have implications for the counseling profession in terms of practice, education, advocacy, and future research.
Copyright (c) 2024 Danielle Pester Boyd, Sara Lappan, Martez Files, Mallory Redmond, Monica Coleman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
International Migrants in Counseling Literature
With the increasing number of international migrants worldwide and the emphasis on multicultural counseling competence and social justice, counseling professionals must learn more about how to work with this population. To address this need, we conducted a 36-year (1988-2023) content analysis of counseling literature focused on international migrants (i.e., immigrants and refugees) in 21 American Counseling Association-Affiliated Journals. Our analysis of 80 related journal articles aimed to explore publication trends, researched topics, and research methods related to this population, offering implications for counselors, researchers, and the counseling profession. The study underscored the significance of culturally sensitive counseling for international migrants, highlighting the necessity for advocacy efforts in the counseling profession to support the mental health needs of international migrants. We recommended that counselors remain informed about research and utilize digital and interdisciplinary approaches to enhance their support of international migrants.
Copyright (c) 2024 Yiying Xiong, Boshi Gao, Zhiyuan Yang https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Pathways to Allyship in Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology
In pursuit of racial justice, there is a need to understand how to engage in anti-racist allyship to reduce potential harm as experienced by the most vulnerable members within academia. In this study, we utilized grounded theory methodology to create a model of allyship based on the definitions and experiences of BIPOC counselor education and counseling psychology faculty members. Participants included 12 faculty members who identified as BIPOC and who could identify traits of White allies through existing relationships and experiences. Participants represented diversity in racial identity and academic rank and were selected through theoretical, purposive, and convenience sampling methods. Through constant comparison of the data, we developed a model identifying contextual processes and components of White allyship. The model demonstrates generative and restrictive pathways for ongoing allyship across the domains of Humility, Engagement, Impact, and Positionality. Implications for counselor educators, counseling psychologists, and researchers are presented.
Copyright (c) 2024 Hannah Bayne, Nia Page, John Harrichand, Anita Neuer Colburn https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Counselors as Social Justice Advocates: Experiences Addressing Systemic Marginalization
A phenomenological study was conducted to determine how counselors are experiencing engagement in social justice advocacy. Participants included seven (N = 7) licensed clinical counselors in the United States. Several themes emerged from the data: social justice advocacy as part of counselor professional identity, experiences of emotional discomfort and gratification, advocacy in action on a micro-, mezzo-, and macro-level, skills utilized to be effective advocates, identity impacting advocacy efforts, challenges faced, and advocacy successes. Results highlighted advocacy action steps that counselors can take to support clients. Skills needed to effective advocates included gaining a knowledge of systems, self-awareness of bias and privilege, intentionality and strategy with advocacy actions, and use of common counseling skills such as compassion and managing challenging responses. Four main elements are identified for potential training implications: (1) establishing a clear professional identity/role around social justice advocacy, (2) teaching advocacy competencies, (3) education about what advocacy practice looks like, and (4) building skills frequently utilized in advocacy practice.
Copyright (c) 2024 Vanessa Sinclair, Amanda C. La Guardia, Rachel M. Saunders, Antar A. Tichavakunda https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Christian privilege and experiences of oppression among people with a non-Christian background in Northern Ireland.
The article aimed to provide insight into how people with a non-Christian background experience Christian privilege in Northern Ireland (NI) and to consider implications for the counseling profession. The current qualitative study was located in a transformative paradigm; it intended to advance a social justice agenda in counseling. Data were collected in five mini focus groups and one individual interview from 15 participants with a non-Christian background. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) reflexive thematic analysis (TA) was used to analyze the data, focusing on semantic level content. Analysis of data led to one overarching theme and five related themes. The overarching theme Outsiders captured how non-Christian participants often experienced the normalization of Christianity as the dominant worldview as oppression; they frequently felt they were treated as strangers who did not belong. Related themes included: Systemic Invisibility, Different and Alienated, Treated as an Enemy, Demeaned, Attacked, and Under Threat, and Attempts to Force Religious Conformity. The urgent need for the counseling profession in Christian hegemonic societies to critically engage with the phenomenon of Christian privilege was discussed.
Copyright (c) 2024 Ali Graham, Maggie Long, Anthea Irwin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Counselor educators in CACREP programs are mandated to include social justice in their training of counseling students. However, counseling preparation programs have failed to adequately train counseling professionals to understand and implement social justice frameworks. Using an exploratory mixed methods design, we explored counselor educators’ educational and training background in social justice concepts as well as their teaching experiences infusing social justice throughout CACREP core curriculum. Strategies counselor educators use to seek knowledge about and incorporate social justice in their praxis are presented. Furthermore, we explored the relationship between counselor educators’ racial identity and their practice of implementing social justice frameworks into their teaching.
Copyright (c) 2024 Ebony White, Tyce Nadrich, Sailume Walo-Roberts, Triana Martinez, Candice Crawford, Alfonso Ferguson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Community Engagement Training and Research in Counseling Psychology
For decades, leaders in the field of Counseling Psychology (CPSY) have called for scholars and practitioners to engage more with our communities as a manifestation of our values. However, questions remain about the extent to which our field has risen to meet these calls. This two-part pilot project is an attempt to answer those unanswered questions by evaluating the current state of CPSY’s involvement in community engagement practices and scholarship. Part 1 is a 30-year content analysis of community engagement scholarship in three flagship CPSY journals; in Part 2, early career counseling psychologists and counseling psychologists-in-training were surveyed to ascertain the extent to which they were (or are being) trained in engagement-related practices. Results revealed counseling psychology may not have effectively integrated community engagement practices into our training or our scholarship, pointing to possible areas of growth for the field.
Copyright (c) 2024 Amanda Case, Abigail Hoxsey http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Development and Validation of an Instrument to Assess Activism towards Environmental and Social Sustainability in Career Counseling
Considering the recent attention to challenges regarding sustainability even within career issues, this study is aimed at providing the development and initial validation of the instrument “Thoughts, Feelings, and Actions about Whatever Does not go as It Should” (TFA) which may be used in career counseling and research activities to assess activism towards environmental and social sustainability in career guidance. With this aim, two different studies were carried out. In the first study, after having developed items and having examined content validity, the factorial structure and the reliability of the instrument was tested. The second study tested the discriminant validity with measures of career adaptability, propensity to sustainability in taking decisions about one’s future, and life satisfaction. Results showed good psychometric support for the TFA instrument for the Italian population. Moreover, the results obtained showed as the total score and the sub-factors score of TFA are related but distinct from the constructs considered, suggesting that workers with higher levels of these dimensions are characterized by greater career adaptability, propensity to sustainability in taking decisions about own future, and life satisfaction.
Copyright (c) 2024 Maria Cristina Ginevra, Ilaria Di Maggio, Sara Santilli, Laura Nota http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The current manuscript focuses on the experiences of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) among novice victim advocates. Victim advocates work with survivors of violent crimes and provide emotional and logistical support to their clients, helping clients navigate the criminal justice system. Through individual interviews, the current study explored how advocates managed their exposure to traumatic events and how they believed it impacted them professionally and personally. Nine victim advocates were interviewed, and principles of thematic analysis were used to code the interviews and analyze the data. From the interviews three major themes emerged related to STS: worldview shifts, secondary traumatic stress symptoms, and burnout. Two major themes emerged related to prevention: colleague support and recognizing successes. Conclusions: Advocates are a particularly vulnerable population of helping professions that are at risk for STS. Increased awareness and acknowledgement of their work will be an important component of intervention efforts. Supporting the needs of novice advocates will be necessary to allow people to sustain in their career, and to be better positioned to support survivors of violent crimes.
Copyright (c) 2024 Lisa De La Rue, Lilyana Ortega, Gena Castro Rodriguez http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Examining the resettlement experiences of Muslim women
In recent years there has been increased attention to the impact of migration on mental health. However, existing research uses an intra-individual lens, focuses on the poor mental health of refugees and asylum seekers, and fails to address the limits of traditional therapy. The aim of the present study was to address a gap in the literature on migration by focusing on the following question: how might a human rights approach help us to identify the policies, practices, and structural forces that impact mental health after migration? Muslim women who migrated to the U.S. as refugees and/or seeking asylum were asked about their experiences of health and well-being. Qualitative data from 10 semi-structured interviews were analyzed and thematic methods were used to generate themes. Four main themes were identified: 1) critical to the definition of a meaningful life was having access to human rights to which Muslim women were entitled; 2) the pervasive impact of legal and financial issues, family separation, and citizenship-related challenges as structural causes of distress; 3) connection serves to enhance well-being; and 4) clinicians can help mitigate the emotional distress incurred by migration by identifying and responding to the health harming legal needs of their clients. This study highlights the importance of incorporating a structural competency framework when working with refugee and asylum-seeking Muslim women in order to challenge health-harming systems which restrict their human rights.
Copyright (c) 2023 Farahdeba Herrawi, Christine Marsico, Álvaro Gamio Cuervo, Lisa Cosgrove http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between psychological well-being and PTSD symptoms in relation to activism orientations among African Americans. Additionally, the study explored the moderating roles of activist self-identity and length of activism involvement in these relationships. A national sample of 298 African American adults was examined, and the following findings were observed: African Americans with a greater inclination toward conventional activism reported higher levels of psychological well-being. Those who self-identified as activists displayed a nearly fourfold decrease in PTSD symptoms. Moreover, older African Americans showed decreased PTSD symptoms and increased psychological well-being compared to younger adults, while African American females reported higher levels of psychological well-being compared to males. Neither high-risk activist orientation nor activist self-identification significantly contributed to the prediction of PTSD symptoms or psychological well-being. Additionally, African American females and older adults with longer durations of involvement in activist organizations reported higher levels of psychological well-being. These findings emphasize the importance of considering age, sex, and duration of activist involvement as contributing factors in understanding variations in mental health. The clinical and community implications of these findings are further discussed.
Copyright (c) 2023 Tangela Roberts http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a digital narrative intervention that combined participatory video (PV) and narrative therapy practices to engage Latinx immigrant young people in processes of personal and societal change. Drawing on ethnographic field notes, process recordings, audio recordings of intervention implementation, and focus group data, this program evaluation offers empirical evidence of the impacts of this innovative, digital narrative intervention on Latinx immigrant young people (ages 18-24) in New Orleans. A constructivist grounded theory approach to data analysis resulted in three main themes: critical reframing, Latinx and immigrant pride, and media literacy. This study unites PV and narrative therapy as complementary approaches to working with marginalized groups to share their stories, suggesting that the combination of these two storytelling practices resulted in several positive outcomes for participants.
Copyright (c) 2024 Jenn Lilly http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
While human service professionals are trained to listen carefully to our clients, we receive little training on how to listen to and analyze the professional discourse that surrounds us. In this article, I introduce critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a set of tools for unpacking how power works in forms of discourse such as policy, legislation, and communication between individuals with unequal amounts of power. To illustrate the process and purpose of CDA, I analyze policy text from the counseling profession. Specifically, I analyze the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) Board of Director’s charge to the 2024 CACREP Standards Revision Committee. I examine active versus passive sentence construction, imperative and declarative sentence mode, and speech act values to explore what the language in the charge reveals about how power works in the CACREP standards revision process. The analysis reveals three differing yet co-existing depictions of power. I claim that the Board of Directors used these varying depictions of power to make a claim about the legitimacy of the standards revision process. I conclude with implications for critical discourse analysis as a method for research and as a tool for training and advocacy.
Copyright (c) 2024 Lindsay Woodbridge http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The racist violence that occurred during the summer of 2020 was a tipping point forcing many people and institutions to acknowledge and address racial inequities in the United States. As the “conscience” of ACA, Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ) responded to this crisis through immediate action and strategic planning. This article discusses the process used by CSJ leaders to meet the CSJ mission of “promoting social justice…through confronting oppressive systems of power and privilege that affect professional counselors and our clients and to assist in the positive change in our society through the professional development of counselors” during this critical time. Recommendations for moving toward a decolonization of counseling practice, supervision, education, and research also are provided.
Copyright (c) 2023 Lauren Shure, Colette Dollarhide, Rachael Goodman, Darius Green, Ebony White, Shon Smith, Frannie Neal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Engaging Human Services and Behavioral Health Professionals in Youth-led, Adult-guided Social Action Initiatives
Professional and community leaders in Washington, DC have expressed the need for more capacity building and increased resources to address health inequities in the city’s underserved African American communities. Inequities (“food deserts,” community decay, and limited youth opportunities) require equity-informed approaches. Disparities (disproportionate substance use/behavioral health disorders) also require system-level approaches. In response, the Wards 7 and 8 DC Prevention Center (DCPC), a community-based nonprofit, collaborated with residents, community partners, and academic institutions to provide trainings and certifications to its team and community stakeholders. Initially, DCPC Staff were trained through evidence-informed approaches including Certified Prevention Specialist (CPS) and Photovoice. CPS training uses workshops and tools from the DC Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) to train staff/students to conduct assessments and build community partnerships. Photovoice provides a less intimidating process for vulnerable populations and professionals to collect data, identify social/environmental factors that impact health and well-being, share concerns, communicate with policymakers, and identify solutions to collectively address issues. In turn, DCPC Staff trained youth and professionals to conduct Photovoice assessments to highlight the misuse of opioids and the negative effects on their communities. Stakeholders continue to request the assistance of CPSs; and community partners seek the trainings for themselves. Academic partners have a community-based resource for students/faculty to learn from and support equity-informed initiatives. This paper presents additional lessons learned/best practices in how to apply this multi-component approach as an effective strategy for preparing professionals and students to engage in social action in similar areas, despite high risks and glaring inequities.
Copyright (c) 2022 Kelli Hill, Rosalind Parker, Suzanne Randolph Cunningham, Lauren Ramsey http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The Anti-Racism Behavioral Inventory: A Validation Study
The current study extends the initial creation and validation of the Anti-Racism Behavioral Inventory (ARBI; Pieterse, Utsey & Miller, 2016), a measure designed to assess anti-racism awareness and behavior among Whites Americans. Given that the original measure was developed with a sample of graduate students in counseling psychology, the current study extends validation to a sample of White individuals who identify as anti-racism activists (N=153). Findings support the original bifactor factor model of the Anti-Racism Behavioral inventory (one general anti-racism behavior factor and three domain-specific factors: individual advocacy, awareness of racism, and institutional advocacy). Additional evidence for validity was supported through negative associations with measures of the color-blind racial attitudes, as well as positive associations with scores on the White Privilege Awareness Inventory. Implications of the findings for training and future research are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2023 Alex L. Pieterse http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Amidst the Chaos: Developing a Counseling Psychologist Identity during Ongoing Social Unrest
Abstract In this reflection paper we discuss the complex challenge of undergoing Counseling Psychology doctoral training as gender expansive women of color during times of great sociopolitical unrest in the United States (U.S.). We consider how via insider status, we are uniquely impacted by engagement in clinical and research work with diverse communities that face ongoing threats to their social and psychological well-being. However, our insider positions are rarely considered in our training experiences. We argue that the field of Counseling Psychology must make a concerted effort to center the voices of students with minoritized identities or runs the risk of engaging in White supremacist practices. We end with recommendations for how Counseling Psychology can better consider and address the needs of doctoral students with minoritized identities.
Copyright (c) 2022 Iliana Flores http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
A Pilot Study of the Intersection of COVID 19 and Activist Mental Health
Recent tensions in society have led to protests and demonstrations to raise awareness and consciousness ultimately for change. These efforts can be draining. Domestic increases in youth activism has illustrated transformative community action as well as the need to determine themes related to activist sustainability and mental health. Therefore, a phenomenological study was conducted to explore Millennial and Generation Z activist mental health perceptions and engagement during times of protest including COVID-19. The voice of seven youth activists regarding their experience with concurrent activism and mental health maintenance were explored. Themes derived from interviews with these young adult activists about their mental health behaviors, included: wellness maintenance, mindset, and technology. Intentions of youth activists to participate in integrated care were discussed. Implications and suggestions for counselors and helping professions are provided.
Copyright (c) 2023 Lea Herbert, Laurie Campbell, Breahannah Hilaire, Galaxina Wright http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Meta-Study of Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology (JSACP) Articles from 2007-2019
Articles published in Journal of Social Action in Counseling and Psychology (JSACP) from 2007-2019 were analyzed to determine trends over time in author characteristics (e.g., gender, work setting, authors per article) and article content (e.g., topical content, statistics, research design and methodology, participant characteristics).
Copyright (c) 2022 LeAnn Wills, Emily Bradford, Bradley Erford http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Distress and its Correlation with Potential Factors among Patients with Cancer in Vietnam
A cancer diagnosis and treatment are stressful for patients. Evidence has shown that the prevalence of mental health problems among cancer patients is very high globally. To our knowledge, there are no studies related to cancer diagnosis and treatment in Vietnam, where the rate of death caused by cancer is at the 50th in the world. This study investigates the prevalence of distress and its correlations with potential factors among Vietnamese cancer patients. This is a cross-sectional study using a self-report questionnaire for cancer patients focused on examining socio-demographic characteristics, satisfaction with current marital status, current job, life in general, cancer-related distress, diagnosis, cancer stage, acceptance of illness, treatment methods, and perceived social support. The prevalence of distress among cancer patients was very high (91.7%). There were significantly higher distress scores in patients living in rural areas and not receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Patients with higher satisfaction with their current employment status or satisfaction with life were less likely to have psychological distress. The patients’ belief in treatment methods and cancer also reduced the risk of experiencing distress. Rural Vietnamese cancer patients impacted by social determinants of health along with cancer-related factors might be experiencing higher psychological distress.
Copyright (c) 2023 Dung Le, Huong Thi Mai Phan http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
“And the Ones that Survived had Hope”: Resilience in Holocaust Survivors
The current study uses a strengths-based lens to explore the resilience narratives of five Holocaust survivors and their perspectives on experiences of resilience during and after the Holocaust. UsingInterpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), transcripts of one to one and a half hour interviews were analyzed by a team of three researchers. Overarching emergent themes included: Definition of Resilience, Adversities, Attitude After Overcoming Adversity, Method of Resilience, Adhering to Cultural Values, and Beliefs About Others’ Experience of Resilience. Subthemes and tertiary categories also evolved and are discussed. Findings are interpreted with the acknowledgement of systemic oppression and overcoming, including participants’ development critical consciousness (Freire, 1975/2000). Implications for current societal circumstances and issues are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2022 Melissa L. Morgan, Veronica Franco, Erick Felix, Nicole M. Ramirez http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This study models counseling research as a social action process highlighting multicultural counselor identity. Seven co-researcher/participants engaged in a community-based reflexive contemplative practice group which aimed at dismantling the power imbalance that normally exists between researchers and participants, and to remain cognizant of the insidious nature of white supremacy. The data collected represents the content and process reflections on participating in this group which invited contemplation about identity on many different levels. Several themes emerged from data as implications for counseling research. Considering research as caring on clinical practice and future research is also discussed.
Copyright (c) 2022 Zvi Bellin, Erin Sappio, Yuleinys A. Castillo, Ryan E. Flinn, Dalad Srisuppak, Kari Miller, Anthony Ross http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Sustaining Long-term Community-Academic Partnerships: Negotiating Power and Presence
Community based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships simultaneously increase knowledge and community well-being. Despite the growing number of long-term (as opposed to project-specific) CBPR partnerships, research has yet to sufficiently explore factors that contribute to their success and sustainability over time. This study investigated this question by exploring the perceived benefits, barriers, and facilitators of participation in one long-term CBPR partnership, with particular attention to the role of power. Fifteen members and non-members of a CBPR partnership were interviewed, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Interviewees discussed the value of involvement in the partnership, including strong relationships, honest discussion of power dynamics, mutual learning, and capacity building. Barriers and facilitators to involvement included access factors (ability to be involved) and participation factors (desire to be involved.) Attention to power dynamics was an important benefit for members, yet culturally-specific organizations faced unique barriers to participation. The findings of this study suggest that future long-term CBPR partnerships should prioritize addressing inequitable logistical barriers to participation, discussing power dynamics and power-sharing, and “centering the margins” by focusing on the needs and interests of culturally-specific organizations.
Copyright (c) 2022 Helen P. Hailes, MA, MSc, Courtney Colgan, MA, Lisa A. Goodman, PhD, Kristie A. Thomas, PhD http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The Impact of Curiosity on Counselors’ Social Justice Identity
The role of counselors has expanded to emphasize social justice principles and community action, encouraging social justice to become infused with counselor’s professional identity. As a result, counselor educators are examining strategies for promoting the social justice identity of students and new professionals. Curiosity has been positioned as theoretically related to the concept of social justice. The current study investigated the relationship between counselor curiosity with social justice identity across three domains (self-efficacy, interest, and commitment) in a sample of 124 counselors and counselor trainees. Results indicated that three types of curiosity (specific, diversive, and competence) predicted each domain of social justice identity. Strategies to incorporate counselor curiosity into social justice pedagogy are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2020 Baker, Messerschmitt-Coen, & Haag Granello https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ) Code of Ethics
Copyright (c) 2020 Counselors for Social Justice https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Embodied Social Justice Learning: Considerations for Curriculum Development and Training in Counseling Programs
Social justice curriculum development continues to be an evolving area in the educational and professional training of counselors and counseling psychologists. While many programs facilitate trainees’ exploration of social justice knowledge through infusion into multicultural counseling courses, there is a growing trend in counseling curriculum development to provide students with specific social justice-oriented awareness and approaches to advocacy. This article describes the development of two-course sequence in a mental health counseling program where trainees are introduced to multicultural and social justice content pedagogically organized around liberation and critical history frameworks. The theoretical frameworks, process of implementing specific curricular activities with a focus on a culminating service-learning experience, and strategies for enhancing social justice and advocacy curriculum development through an embodied social justice learning curricular approach are discussed. This article aims to advance curriculum development by encouraging faculty in counseling programs to consider implementing curricular activities that are guided by social justice embodiments and critical-liberatory frameworks to facilitate trainees’ social justice knowledge and their approach to advocacy in their roles as helping professionals.
Copyright (c) 2022 Collette Chapman-Hilliard, Brean'a Parker http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Teaching Cultural Competence and Social Justice in a Mental Health Counseling Graduate Course: Reflection and Review of the Literature
Cultural competence and commitment to social justice are foundational to counselors’ professional identity. There is significant attention in scholarly literature and ethical codes on what this means for the education, training, and practice. This has led counseling and counselor education programs to actively incorporate issues of cultural diversity and social justice into coursework and fieldwork requirements. Research trends indicate graduate students in counseling and counselor education benefit personally and professionally from the knowledge, skills, and awareness they develop in and outside of the classroom. Coursework on multiculturalism and social justice is a standard part of these programs, but knowledge on best practices for students’ personal and professional growth is still accumulating to reflect dynamic social and political changes within the United States and abroad. This manuscript describes a required counseling course for mental health counseling students implemented in the spring of 2020. This course integrated topics related to cultural diversity and social justice and introduced conceptual frameworks for counseling and advocacy. The description of this course includes sample readings, in-class activities, and graded assignments that fulfill the learning objectives. Comparisons to research trends and existing recommendations are made, and future directions for course design are highlighted.
Copyright (c) 2022 Mary Beth Medvide http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Experiences, Barriers, and Self-Efficacy Enhancement for Social Justice-Oriented Faculty
Although a commitment to social justice is central to the identity of counseling psychologists, little is known about how faculty contribute to a culture of social justice. The current study aims to explore engagement in social justice by answering six questions: 1) how do faculty define social justice, 2) how do they engage in social justice with students, 3) what barriers exist in relation to their engagement, 4) how often do faculty engage in social justice with students, 5) how supported do faculty feel in relation to their social justice efforts, and 6) what impact does training have on social justice self-efficacy and subsequent engagement? To examine these questions, a nationwide sample of 72 faculty from APA-accredited counseling psychology programs completed an online survey. Findings from thematic analysis revealed several themes across faculty definitions of, and engagement in, social justice, despite a number of barriers they also identified. Results from quantitative analyses suggested that most faculty engage in social justice. However, many are operating with little support. Several barriers to engagement exist, but graduate school training in social justice may help to eradicate those barriers. Faculty members who received training in social justice as students reported significantly more social justice self-efficacy now. Additionally, faculty with more social justice self-efficacy reported greater engagement in social justice in their professional and personal lives. Implications for promoting social justice among faculty are discussed, including practical suggestions for fostering self-efficacy, building a strong community, promoting adequate training, accessing role models, and engaging in self-care.
Copyright (c) 2022 Jennifer Taylor, Amira Trevino http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Using a Consultation Assignment to Enhance Trainees’ Understanding and Implementation of Consultation and Social Justice in Career Counseling
Social justice advocacy and career counseling are foundational competencies for counseling professionals. However, training in advocacy and consultation outside of the classroom (i.e., in the community) is infrequent and career counseling courses, despite conceptualizing systemic issues, often focus on individual-level interventions. There is an opportunity to merge these competencies into a single experience for graduate trainees. Graduate students in a clinical psychology master’s program completed a pilot, semester-long assignment in their career counseling class, which required them to work as consultants to organizations on a social justice oriented, career counseling focused project. We used a multi-method qualitative approach to analyze students’ career theory knowledge and application and social justice advocacy. Data were generated through students’ written assignments. Using coding reliability thematic analysis, data indicated most students were able to describe consultant and individual difficulties from an advocate and social justice framework, but about half the students struggled to integrate these social justice frames into career counseling theories and interventions. Five themes relating to student development emerged (e.g., recognizing privilege, self-efficacy), alongside three themes related to the logistics of the assignment design and implementation. Results are discussed alongside how to improve the assignment.
Copyright (c) 2022 Stephanie Winkeljohn Black, Zainab Akef, Centia Thomas http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Recommendations for Integrating a Social Justice Framework into Clinical Practice: A qualitative analysis with implications for psychology training programs
Social justice is a frequently used buzz word yet an abstract concept in clinical training. As a result, there is minimal guidance on how to implement social justice in clinical practice, which leads to training gaps, uncertainty, and discomfort among clinicians serving historically oppressed populations. This study examined how to integrate the social justice principles of community psychology into clinical psychology practice among doctoral students. The integration of the following social justice principles were analyzed: addressing oppression and social context, utilizing strength-based approaches, facilitating empowerment, acknowledging and managing privilege, and effective advocacy. We utilized qualitative methods to complete 26 one-on-one interviews and a focus group with 5 participants to understand student experiences and explore how they applied the above social justice principles to their clinical practice. Through an iterative process, doctoral student responses were synthesized into a list of recommendations on how to integrate a social justice framework into clinical work. The primary results from this study suggest that students in clinical-community psychology doctoral programs try to use client-centered strategies to understand their clients’ experiences of oppression and incorporate social context and a strengths-based approach into multiple aspects of practice, such as treatment planning and advocacy to connect clients to resources. Students also reported managing their privilege through internal self-reflection and occasional self-disclosure during therapy with clients. However, despite the desire to use socially just practices, several training gaps and needs emerged. These gaps included the need to identify methods of measuring and confirming client empowerment as well as supervisory and institutional support for effective advocacy work. Thus, implications for integrating social justice principles into clinical-community psychology programs, clinical psychology, and related disciplines are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2022 Munazza Saalim Abraham, Geoffrey Harrison, Sarah Peralta, Jabarey Wells, Bronwyn Hunter http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Collaboratively Adapting Culturally-Respectful, Locally-Relevant Suicide Prevention for Newly Participating Alaska Native Communities
Because suicide is deeply connected to local, historical and relational contexts, effective suicide prevention strategies must balance maintaining fidelity of evidence-based practices and adapting for the unique needs of diverse communities. Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES) builds the capacity of local people in close-knit rural Alaska Native communities to take preventative actions based on existing relationships, roles, and priorities. In a series of learning circles, community members learn about multilevel evidence-based suicide prevention practices, apply the information to personal and cultural contexts, and develop plans for taking action—on their own terms—in their lives. Here, we describe the participatory process used to adapt PC CARES from one region of Alaska to another, aiming to maximize transferability, practicality and relevance in our partner communities. With the shared goal of promoting self-determined, evidence-informed, community-based suicide prevention, the adaptation process included negotiating between comprehensiveness and understandability; subject appeal and utility; predictability and customizability, through consensus-building with researchers and community members. Lessons learned can be helpful to others working to navigate community-specific priorities and evidence-based approaches to develop interventions that can work across many different communities.
Copyright (c) 2022 Lisa Wexler, Tara Schmidt, Lauren White, Caroline Bec, Suzanne Rataj, Roberta Moto, Tanya Kirk, Diane McEachern http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
There is much agreement within counseling psychology on the importance of social justice, yet social justice education and training remain limited in counseling psychology programs (Beerman et al., 2012; Pieterse et al., 2009; Singh et al., 2010). Critical components to social justice education and training include an emphasis on systems theories that could inform interventions (i.e. advocacy and activism) at the exosystem and mesosystem levels as well as learning about the breadth of activism and advocacy skills. Assessment, diagnosis, and conceptualization are considered core functional competencies in professional psychology (Fouad, 2009), yet these processes are often only taught at the individual level. If the goal of advocacy and activism are to foster systems change, considered a functional competency in counseling psychology (CCPTP, 2012), then it is crucial to provide systems-level theories and skills in counseling psychology education and training. We describe how we have attended to the provision of systems-level education and training in our respective programs. We will provide recommendations about the inclusion of systems-level theories, classroom formats, assignments, and mentorship designed to foster trainees’ development of a systems-level theoretical orientation, as well as skills to engage in social justice research, leadership, and both micro- and macro-level advocacy interventions.
Copyright (c) 2022 Melanie Wilcox, Katharine Shaffer, Laura Reid Marks, Ashley Hutchison, Candice Hargons http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Tugging at the root of oppression: Infusing social justice across doctoral level clinical psychology curriculum
Most professional associations and accrediting bodies in psychology and counseling make the aspirational call to graduate training programs to integrate social justice throughout their curriculum. Although a laudable goal, there appear to be no clear guidelines or best practices for cultivating this aspiration in psychology trainees preparing for entry-level practice. This case study will summarize a comprehensive process of integrating social justice principles into a doctoral program in clinical psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association. This programmatic, descriptive case study will describe specific program revisions to internal curriculum components and reorganization of the program trajectory, which were implemented to assist students in the reconciliation process. Modified curriculum components included lecture topics, readings and empirical research, in-class activities, and assignments in the core classes. The result was a more coherent and sequential program that infuses social justice concepts across all aspects of learning and training. The goal of this investigation was to (1) inspire other programs to engage in the important work of moving the exploration of social justice from one mandatory class to a concept that permeates all training aspects, and (2) cultivate a new generation of psychologists that know not just how to effectively treat people from different cultural perspectives, but to dismantle the oppressive systems that cause psychological suffering.
Copyright (c) 2022 Jude Bergkamp http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
A training program to increase collaboration between interpreter and therapists in psychotherapy with resettled refugees.
Drawing from the framework of community-academic partnerships, we describe the development and implementation of a training module to increase collaboration between interpreters and therapists in interpreter-mediated psychotherapy with refugees. Beginning with community engagement with local agencies and leaders to identify barriers to accessing psychotherapy services in the resettled refugee populations, this project involved multiple layers of collaboration to include multiple perspectives. The program was funded by a local community foundation and was implemented in three phases. In the first phase we identified key community partners and stakeholders with first-hand knowledge of the needs of refugee populations. Phase two involved a two-day workshop for student therapists from different disciplines and interpreters working in the field. Phase three included a follow up to re-assess challenges in the field and refine our training. The need to build early collaboration between therapists and interpreters was highlighted throughout the development and implementation of the project. We discuss the project’s impact, challenges encountered, and implications of lessons learned in developing community-engaged partnerships for graduate programs as a way of promoting social justice in practitioner training.
Copyright (c) 2022 Rashmi Gangamma, Shaelise Tor http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Advocacy and Creativity in Community: A Social Justice Project for Counseling Students
The proven effective teaching of social justice advocacy competencies while recognized as important by the counseling profession and counselor education programs, remains somewhat nascent in its implementation. Evidence suggests that experiential and constructivist approaches to the teaching of multicultural and social justice counseling competencies represent a worthwhile pedagogical foundation and set of tools in furthering multicultural and social justice counseling competencies in counseling students. The author relates, in detail, the implementation of an experiential, client/community-based, social justice and mental health advocacy project, the Advocacy and Creativity in Community (ACC) Project as a final class assignment in the last term prior to graduation within a CACREP-accredited clinical mental health counseling program in the Northwest region of the United States. Descriptions of student projects, the multitude of benefits for clients/participants and students as elicited from student reflections, and the author’s reflection after three years of implementing this project are presented. This project exemplifies the benefits within the literature of taking an experiential and constructivist approach to social justice advocacy training in counselor education programs.
Copyright (c) 2022 Victor Chang http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Description and Pilot Evaluation of a Dreamer Ally Training for Higher Education Staff and Faculty
We describe a Dreamer Ally training provided to staff and faculty on a university campus and present results of a pilot evaluation of this training. The Dreamer Ally training was designed to (a) increase university faculty and staff awareness, understanding, and self-efficacy for working with Dreamer students and (b) stimulate action to make the campus more responsive to the challenges and contributions of Dreamer students. For the purpose of this study we define Dreamer students as inclusive of undocumented students, students with the temporary protection of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), students who qualify for the state’s tuition equity program, and students from mixed legal status families. Study goals were to describe the training, gather pilot data on participant learning goals, post-training satisfaction and self-efficacy for supporting Dreamer students, and generate participant feedback about utility of training components and their plans for subsequent action. Participants completed questionnaires before and after the training. Responses to open-ended questions indicated that most participants attended in order to learn how to better support Dreamer students. Paired samples (pre and post) t-tests indicated significantly higher self-efficacy for supporting Dreamer students at posttest. Participant satisfaction with the training was high and found the information session content and working through different Dreamer student scenarios most useful. Action plans included changing program or unit websites to be more inclusive of Dreamers. Limitations include the absence of a control group. Findings can inform institutional efforts to raise faculty and staff awareness of and responsiveness to the challenges facing Dreamer students.
Copyright (c) 2021 Ellen Hawley McWhirter, Kristin Yarris, Bryan Ovidio Rojas-Araúz http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Examination of Social Justice Behaviors: Testing an Integrated Model
In this study, we tested an integrated model of social justice behaviors among a community sample of 179 Asian American and White American adults. The integrated model builds on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and sociopolitical development theory (SPD). Findings from path analyses provided partial support for the integrated model. Specifically, social justice awareness, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were uniquely and positively related to participants’ social justice intention. Intention to act, however, did not predict self-reported social justice behaviors. Multiple group comparison analyses suggested that the aspects of the integrated model consistent with the TPB were better supported in the White American sample, whereas the aspects of the model consistent with SPD were a better fit for the Asian American sample. Particularly, social justice attitudes were related to self-reported actions for Asian Americans in the sample, but not White Americans.
Copyright (c) 2020 Tuyet Mai Hoang, Helen A. Neville, V. Paul Poteat, Lisa B. Spanierman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Exploring Youth Participatory Action Research in Urban Schools: Advancing Social Justice and Equity-Based Counseling Practices
Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is emerging as a group counseling practice that focuses on topics that are of personal interest to youth and aims to promote social change. Although YPAR has been found to facilitate critical consciousness, assist with youth self-identity development, and promote social change, few researchers have examined its application in counseling. The present study explored six school counselor trainees’ perceptions of YPAR as a therapeutic intervention and its impact on counseling skill development and how it relates to multicultural and social justice counseling competencies. The themes that resulted from the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis for YPAR as a counseling practice were: (1) fun, interactive, youth-centered approach, not like counseling or therapy, (2) implementation of challenges requiring planning, time, and commitment, (3) collaborative supports to step out of comfort zone, overcome initial hesitancy, and welcome new learning experience, (4) development of counseling skills and confidence as a counselor, and (5) understanding differences and increasing self-awareness and advocacy skills. Discussion and implications for school counseling practice are provided.
Copyright (c) 2020 Cook, Levy, & Whitehouse https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Supporting Crossover Students in an Urban School District: A Participatory Project
This participatory action research (PAR) project describes crossover students’ college and career readiness needs in a major west coast urban school district. The paper provided insights from administrator researchers, participants, facilitator, and recommendations for school counselors, educators, and organizations who are thinking of creating more counseling support and educational opportunities for crossover students. The results include the reflections and recommendations of crossover youths (e.g., encourage us, we are worth the rigor). The discussion includes strategies for supporting the academic, career, emotional, and social needs of crossover students.
Copyright (c) 2021 Robert Martinez, Mark Scholl, Erika Torres, Jesus Corral, Sandra Naranjo, Denise Miranda, Mary Dooley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Process Evaluation of Training Model for School-Based Mental Health
There is a need to examine collaborative mental health practices in geographic regions serving high populations of under-represented minority and low socio-economic status youth in order to reduce the barriers in access to care and support. In response, a counselor education program at a large land-grant university in the Southwestern United States worked in collaboration with a local school district to create a school-based mental health program. The program provides no-cost and timely mental health counseling services to students and their families using a practicum training model. This article presents process evaluation data that examine program level functioning during the implementation stage of the training model. Implications for program improvements in the next phase of implementation are discussed as well as implications of this type of service delivery model within the context of counselor education and social justice.
Copyright (c) 2019 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Social Justice Pre-Practicum: Enhancing Social Justice Identity Through Experiential Learning
The counseling profession calls counselors to engage in social justice advocacy and charges counselor education programs to prepare students for this work. While most counseling programs promote social justice knowledge through a single course and infusion model, there remains a standard practice in providing students with experiential opportunities in advocacy to improve their learning. A qualitative study used a focus group methodology to examine the effectiveness of a social justice pre-practicum in the development of a social justice identity with counseling students. The study examines whether participation in a social justice pre-practicum reinforces a personal connection to and a broader understanding of social inequalities and advocacy work, as well as encourages more engagement in systemic advocacy in current employment. The purpose of this article is to encourage counselor education programs to equip students with real-life experiential opportunities in advocacy work by adopting a similar social justice pre-practicum course in their curriculum.
Advocacy-in-Action: Case Portrait of a Helping Professional Pursuing Positive Social Change for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth
Transgender and gender-expansive youth experience discrimination and marginalization in the healthcare setting, school environment, their communities, and families. These experiences of rejection and adversity are correlated with higher rates of suicidality, depression, and other mental health concerns. Helping professionals play an essential role in mitigating experiences of oppression by advocating for positive social change for their transgender and gender-expansive clientele. Through the provision of a single case portrait, this article explores the advocacy-in-action of Craig, a helping professional and advocate, as he pursues positive social change for transgender and gender-expansive youth. Merriam’s (1988) interpretive case study was used to guide data collection and findings. Emergent themes provided concrete examples of how the American Counseling Association (ACA) endorsed an advocacy model, and the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling Competencies for Counseling Transgender Clients apply to this population. Including the concepts of intrapersonal and interpersonal advocacy to the current advocacy model is critical to advancing the health of transgender and gender-expansive youth. Implications for counselors and counselors in training will also be discussed.
Challenging Definitions of Psychological Trauma: Connecting Racial Microaggressions and Traumatic Stress
While previous studies have found significant relationships between racial microagressions, depression, and anxiety, few studies have examined the effects of racial microaggressions on traumatic stress. Furthermore, although trauma has been traditionally conceptualized as psychophysiological reactions to life-threatening events, the notion of racial trauma has been excluded, despite resulting in similar symptomatology. The current study utilized a correlational, cross-sectional design with a racially diverse sample of people of color (N=254) to investigate the relationships between racial microaggressions, racially- or culturally-related trauma, and trauma symptoms. Using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, results indicated that a greater frequency of racial microaggressions was significantly associated with greater traumatic stress symptoms, and that school or workplace microaggressions were the type of microaggression that was most associated with traumatic symptoms. Implications are discussed, including the need for counselors, psychologists, and helping professionals to consider racial microaggressions as traumatic events while using culturally-informed trauma-focused methods to normalize and empower people of color.
Visions of Health: The GirlPower Photovoice Project
The perceptions of 12 middle school girls regarding the health promoting and inhibiting aspects of their community were explored using the innovative methodology known as Photovoice that was situated in a youth-participatory-action research (YPAR) methodology. The photographs and resulting focus group discussions revealed overarching themes of Community Health and Safety, Food, Relationships, Socioeconomic Status (SES), Moral Development, and Physical Activity. The themes offer a way to organize the multiple realities of adolescent girls and how they interpret their personal health and the health of their communities, while the outcomes associated with participating in the project provide evidence of gains in self-esteem, collective efficacy, and leadership and advocacy skills.
Copyright (c) 2021 Christina R. Miller, Zermarie Deacon, Shane R. Brady http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
From Proposal to Action: Supporting Student Advocacy during Graduate Counseling Training
Training future clinicians to engage in advocacy is an important element of fostering multicultural competence. We describe the use of an advocacy proposal assignment integrated into a required multicultural counseling course to teach students about advocacy work. We offer data from a study that examined the impact of the assignment on students’ perceptions of advocacy/activism. Participants included 74 counseling psychology graduate students. Students in the advocacy compared to the comparison group endorsed greater importance placed on advocacy and greater intentions to engage in advocacy. We also offer four examples of students who moved from the proposal stage to action stage, documenting their projects. Finally, we offer suggestions and recommendations for supporting students’ engagement in advocacy.
Copyright (c) 2019 Brinkman & Hirsch https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Trainee Counselor Development of Social Justice Counseling Competencies
This grounded theory study sought to identify the process by which master’s level counselors-in-training (CITs) develop social justice counseling competencies. Participants (N = 41) from a clinical mental health counseling (CMHC) program were interviewed at pre-practicum, pre-internship, and post-internship phases. CITs progressed through the stages of exposure, recognition, and action, influenced by self-reflection and attitudes. These stages differed from the awareness, knowledge, and skills domains identified in prior multicultural and social justice counseling literature. Most CITs planned advocacy action steps by the conclusion of their program, though few implemented them. Implications for counselor educators are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2019 Field, Ghoston, Grimes, Sturm, Kaur, Aninditya, & Toomey https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Community-Based Participatory Research with Invisible, Geographically-Dispersed Communities: Partnering with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Communities on the California Central Coast
This article reports on the community-based participatory research (CBPR) process of a 3.5-year study documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community members’ perceptions of local LGBTQ communities on the Central Coast of California. This three-phase study consisted of online and paper-and-pen surveys to analyze community strengths, challenges, priorities, and feelings of connection; collaborative interpretation of survey results through community forums; and a regional “LGBTQ Summit” to envision and initiate data-based actions to address community priorities. The focus throughout the project was on establishing collaborative partnerships to plan and guide the project, cultivating community participation in interpreting and disseminating findings, and honoring diverse LGBTQ community members’ voices through data-driven community action. This article documents lessons learned about building and facilitating community-university partnerships, organizing and maintaining a sustained community research collaborative, engaging community participation, and ultimately, creating lasting, community-driven interventions.
Copyright (c) 2019 Oaks, Israel, Conover, Cogger, & Avellar https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Quality of Life for North Korean Female Refugees: The Influence of Physical Health, PTSD, and Social Support
Background of the Study.The purpose of this study was to test a mediation model that describes the pathways through which female North Korean defectors’ perceived physical health and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms may be associated with their quality of life. Specifically, we aimed to investigate whether social support would mediate the association between North Korean defectors’ perceived physical health and PTSD symptoms and their quality of life. Methods. The study sample included 172 female North Korean defectors living in South Korea. Participants completed a health condition checklist, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PLC-C), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Korean version of the Short-Form 8-Item Health Survey (SF-8). Results. The structural equation model confirmed the hypothesized mediation model, with the following indices: χ2 (38) = 86.184, CFI = 0.97, NFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.08 (90% CI: 0.06 - 0.10). Discussion. Our findings could help counselors understand unique issues that women refugees may experience as well as protective factors in their life (i.e., social support).
Copyright (c) 2019 Lee, Shin, & Lee https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
A Call for Social Justice in the American Counseling Association (ACA)
Leaders and members of seven social justice-oriented divisions of the American Counseling Association (ACA) met at a Social Justice Summit called by the Counselors for Social Justice in March 2019 at the ACA National Convention in New Orleans. The goal of the summit was to create conversations among members of these seven divisions around ways to improve social justice within the ACA. These discussions at the summit were transcribed and summarized for the purpose of creating a document to outline how ACA could improve its social justice practice. The resulting call for social justice in ACA includes three topics derived from discussions of social justice in the counseling profession: social justice in the organization of ACA, social justice for the people in ACA, and social justice at the ACA conference. Implications for improved social justice practice in the organization are provided.
Copyright (c) 2020 Counselors for Social Justice http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Reflections and Results from the Intersections: Teaching and Learning the Praxis of Intersectionality in the Psychology Classroom
This article bridges multiple ways of knowing to explore the experience of an undergraduate psychology class focused on intersectionality. Drawing on feminist pedagogy, intersectionality, and critical consciousness literatures, we, the instructor and students together work to understand the experiences of the course and to offer our lessons learned. We present a detailed structure of the course, Experiences of Intersectionality, results of a qualitative analysis of students’ written course reflections, and instructor reflections. Three themes were extracted from the data: Vulnerability and Privilege, “Small Slaps in the Face,” and Empathy and Action. The discussion of the findings includes reflections from the course instructor and applications to praxis, particularly for educators.
Copyright (c) 2020 Jen Wallin-Ruschman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Knowledge is Power: An Analysis of Counseling Professionals’ Medicare Policy Proficiency
This study examines counseling professionals’ knowledge concerning the Medicare program and related advocacy efforts. American Counseling Association members (N = 5,097) answered a series of true-false questions that were intended to measure proficiency in two areas: Medicare policy and the counseling profession’s advocacy for provider eligibility. Statistical analyses indicated that members have a wide range of Medicare knowledge. A significant difference in advocacy history knowledge was found when comparing counselor educators, practicing counselors, doctoral students, and master’s students. However, no differences in policy knowledge were present among these groups. Implications for the counseling profession and counselor training are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2020 Matthew C. Fullen, Jordan Westcott, Julianna Williams http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
“I Feel Like We’re Going Backwards:” Post-Presidential Election Resilience in Latinx Community Members
The 2016 U.S. presidential election brought many reactions on a global scale. World leaders, national leaders, and everyday citizens experienced intense emotions on varying levels. Latinx communities in the U.S., specifically, were impacted significantly, with rhetoric about immigration and issues regarding border security (i.e., build a wall). While much about these sentiments have been reported at the journalistic level, little has been published at the research level to date: specifically, how Latinx community members reacted on an individual level, how they confronted concerns related to fear and adversities (i.e., their resilience), and what the impact may be for their future. The current study employs a community-based, qualitative approach that involved conducting semi-structured focus groups with self-identified Latinx community members in a U.S., West Coast town. Participants were asked about their emotions and reactions, as well as plans regarding the results of the election. Emergent themes included three broad categories: (1) perspectives on the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election; (2) observed impacts of the U.S. presidential election, and (3) ways of dealing with the election results. Sub and tertiary thematic categories were also identified.
Copyright (c) 2018 Morgan Consoli, Consoli, Hufana, Sanchez, Unzueta, Flores, Vázquez, Sheltzer, & Casas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
PTSD, Complex PTSD, and Childhood Abuse: Gender Differences among a Homeless Sample
The current study examined the potential relationship between homelessness, gender, and occurrence of Post-Traumatic Distress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD. Participants were 90 homeless persons from shelters located in a large, South Central Texas, metropolitan city of approximately 1.9 million persons. The study found that homeless participants reported high levels of childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Homeless women reported higher rates of childhood abuse and were affected by PTSD at a higher frequency than homeless males. PTSD, Complex PTSD, and traumatic experiences such as childhood abuse appear to be contributing factors to homelessness. Results suggest the need for increased advocacy among counseling and psychology professionals is warranted for homeless persons experiencing PTSD.
Copyright (c) 2018 de Vries, Juhnke, & Keene https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
“There Are Many Social Evils...and Only We Can Cure It”: A Thematic Content Analysis of Privileged Indian Youth’s Perspective on Social Issues
This study aimed to investigate how socioeconomically privileged students at a private school in India understood social issues in their communities, and it explored whether their understanding of and discourse about working against social and economic oppression changed after they took a field trip to a nearby under-resourced village. The sample included 75 youth from high-income backgrounds in Bhubaneswar, India, most of whom reported never having spent time in a poverty-stricken village. Students responded in writing to reflection prompts before and after the field trip. Participants’ responses were thematically coded to capture their perspectives of social injustice and ideas of change. A codebook of participants’ reflections was then developed, consisting of thirty-five themes and seven overarching domains: (1) positionality; (2) discrimination; (3) structural issues; (4) village-level issues; (5) strategies for problem solving; (6) experiences of helping; and (7) reasons for or barriers to problem solving. Descriptive frequencies revealed the prevalence of themes before and after the field trip. Implications and limitations of the study and directions for future research on enhancing awareness of privilege and social oppression are discussed.
Social Distance from Mental Illness Among Counseling, Social Work, and Psychology Students and Helping Professionals
Negative stereotypes of people with mental illness may lead to stigma of those with mental illness, impacting their self-confidence and willingness to seek mental health treatment. Few studies have looked at the health professional’s role and the impact they may have on the stigmatization process of people with mental illness. The purpose of this article was to better understand the concept of social distance among individuals in the helping professions of counseling, social work, and psychology. A total of 305 students and 95 professionals from counseling, social work and psychology participated in this study. Results revealed that counseling, social work, and psychology students, and helping professionals do not differ in their need for social distance from people with mental illness. Helping professionals reported significantly more social distance from people with mental health problems in close personal relationships, compared to their social relationships. In conclusion, there were no significant differences in social distance observed as a function of professional experience.
Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents
The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent a U.S. newcomer school for adolescent English language learners lacked adequate mental health services for immigrant students. School counseling professionals at this school sought data to advocate for additional mental health professionals without asking inappropriately invasive questions about family legal immigration status. Leveraging the expertise of school administrators, refugee resettlement experts, and university researchers yielded a creative method for collecting student demographic information without violating student privacy. Looking specifically at refugee students from high-conflict backgrounds (the “refugees likely to have experienced distress” or “RED” variable) allowed researchers to pinpoint psychosocial acculturation differences in comparison with other immigrant students. A survey of students revealed differences in reported attitudes toward school and perceptions of discrimination among refugees from high-conflict backgrounds compared to other immigrants and refugees from lower-conflict backgrounds. Findings also supported the notion that immigrant students were likely to have experienced trauma prior to enrolling in this school. Results of this engaged scholarship allowed the resident school counselor to advocate effectively for a full-time mental health counselor position for newly arrived secondary students.
Remembrance and Gratitude to Tod "Theo" Sloan
Humanity in Homelessness: A Social Justice Consultation Course for Counseling Psychology Students
Students in counseling psychology have cited a desire for more opportunities to engage in social justice within their programs. Pressing national issues, such as homelessness, offer an opportunity to use transferrable psychology skills, including consultation, to address and prevent systemic oppression, while affording students necessary training. This paper describes a doctoral level counseling psychology course on social justice consultation and evaluation. The students and faculty undertook a consultation project with the city’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention (OHPI), where they applied a strengths-based social justice consultation model to the goal of providing recommendations to prevent homelessness. First, we set the context for homelessness in the United States and [university town]. We then outline the data consultation process and preparation/presentation of a formal report for OHPI officials, including successful outcomes from the consultation. Finally, we discuss lessons learned from the consultation project and recommendations for students and faculty who plan to implement social justice consultation into their graduate programs.
Copyright (c) 2018 Alyssa Clements-Hickman, Zachary Dschaak, Candice Nicole Hargons, Cheryl Kwok, Carolyn Meiller, Todd Ryser-Oatman, Doug Spiker https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Giving Voice: Utilizing Critical Race Theory to Facilitate Consciousness of Racial Identity for Latina/o College Students
The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the development and implementation of the Latina/o Educational Equity Project (LEEP), a pilot program designed to facilitate critical consciousness of race in higher education for Latina/o college students. Consistent with our values in social justice, we developed LEEP with the belief that increased critical consciousness would result in students’ recognition of the power dynamics at work in predominately White universities (PWI), increased strength and resilience in being able to negotiate such a context, and improved ability to make the connection between college completion to the upward mobility of their local communities and communities of origin. Elsewhere we present the specific outcomes of this brief intervention (Cerezo & McWhirter; 2012) our focus here is to describe how we used Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a guiding framework to develop various aspects of the program that we implemented in three PWI settings.
Situating Psychotheraphy with Tribal Peoples in a Sovereignty Paradigm
American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) nations have experienced profound disruptions to their lifeworlds as a result of ongoing colonialism. With striking regularity, these disruptions have violated Tribal sovereignty, impacting Tribal capacities for self-determination. The ensuing distress within Tribal communities has been marked by the intergenerational transmission of colonial traumas and losses that have been conceptualized as historical trauma, historical trauma response, historical unresolved grief, and colonial trauma response. For mental health professionals to de-colonize their work with Tribal peoples, it is necessary to imbue mental health research and practice with a sovereignty perspective that supports Tribal nations’ rights to self-determination. In a sovereignty-based paradigm, psychotherapy and research would involve critically examining colonial assumptions currently enacted in western research and psychotherapy approaches and a search for therapeutic approaches that nurture each Tribal people’s self-determined relational, knowledge, and value systems.
Guiding Principles for Community Engagement: Reflections on a School-Based Sustainability Project
This article describes an action research project in which community psychologists worked with a school community to promote environmentally sustainable practices. Our research team had five guiding principles: strengths-based, empowerment, role modeling, communication, and measurement and feedback. Here we describe a phenomenological study of how we experienced our principles and how key participants from the school perceived our professional practice. Each research team member completed a self-reflective survey and key staff and students from the school were interviewed. Amongst other benefits, the principles were valuable in promoting coherence within the research team, guiding decision-making and providing a framework for critical reflection. Recommendations are given for researchers and community practitioners interested in initiating sustainability projects with local organizations or using a similar principles-based approach in other collaborative endeavors.
Power Politics: Advocacy to Activism in Social Justice Counseling
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 focus on evidence-based research, training, and the potential use of technology and social media in the social justice advocacy movement.
Reflections on a Participatory Research Project: Young People of Refugee Background in an Arts-Based Program
In Australia we have been engaged in community research with different groups who have been marginalised or excluded on the basis of race or ethnicity. To date, little research has been undertaken on the role of creative arts programs for refugee background young people. This article will describe a research project exploring how arts-based interventions facilitate well-being and settlement of recently arrived young people of refugee background. Specifically, the article discusses the usefulness of participatory research in evaluating a school-based arts program where refugee-background young people had the opportunity to tell their story through multiple media such as photos, individual narratives, and embodied performance (e.g., dance). Reflections and lessons on the challenges of conducting a participatory research project are also offered.
Exhumation processes in fourteen countries in Latin America
Exhumation processes are described in fourteen Latin American countries. They have been classified into four categories: 1) collective massacres (Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Peru, 2) persons detained and disappeared as a result of state policies (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay), 3) collective violence (Venezuela, Mexico and Panama) and 4) selective deaths under democratic regimes (Ecuador and Honduras). The events are described that made it necessary to start the exhumation process and other processes, analysing psychosocial accompaniment for relatives, whether it has been provided, and attempting to draw lessons from each experience on order to develop processes still outstanding in this and other continents.
Counselors as Advocates: Effects of a Pilot Project Designed to Develop Advocacy Knowledge and Confidence in Trainees
While there has been increased attention to advocacy within counseling and counseling psychology, it has been noted that trainees generally feel unprepared to engage in advocacy and do not participant e in this type of work to a large extent, even with increased age or professional experience). The qualitative study summarizes the findings of a project within a graduate multicultural counseling course designed to increase trainee knowledge and confidence related to advocacy. This project required students (N = 19) to complete individual advocacy projects in the community, with opportunities for self-reflection and evaluation of their progress throughout the semester. Student reflection responses about the effects of this project were analyzed using methods from Grounded Theory by a collaborative research team. This process resulted in a core category of responses that included expanded definitions of advocacy, increased self-confidence regarding advocacy work, obstacles encountered, and reactions to the course assignment. Implications and future directions are discussed.
“A Different Way”: The Experiences of Latinx Parents with School Counselors
This phenomenological study aimed to identify the essence of the lived experiences of Latinx parents as they relate to school counselors. A Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) Framework was used to explore the experiences of Latinx parents with school counselors. Twelve Latinx parents were interviewed from three counties in a Southeastern state to share their experiences with school counselors to provide recommendations for practice to the school counseling specialty and school counselors in training. The five overarching themes identified were: (1) Disconnections Between Educational and Cultural Systems; (2) Growth Fostering Relationships Between Latino/a Parents and School Counselors; (3) Sense of Worth Based on Quality of Experiences with School Counselors; (4) Desired Connections Based on Experiences with School Counselors; and (5) Knowledge of the School Counselor Role Built on Mutuality. These findings provided insight as to how the parents experienced their interactions with school counselors to support a social justice call to action.
Toward a Ripple Effect: Psychologists Collaborate in Social Justice Education at a High School
Social justice education aims to develop critical thinking about social inequities and social responsibility to increase civic engagement in high school youth. While high schools increasingly recognize the importance of social justice education, teachers are often initially under-prepared to teach this material, particularly about managing challenging emotions, and working with a group- processes as students work with social justice content and process. Psychologists are often asked to be diversity consultants or instructors, creating opportunities to contribute to social justice education. Drawing from implementation science, this paper describes a model of collaboration between university-based psychologists and high-school educators in providing a social justice course to high school students. Our education model enabled a multi-layered collaborative network that maximized the contributions of collaborators (i.e., Students, High School Teachers, Consultants, and Mentor) and enabled sustainability within the high school.
Tin, Aluminum, and Diamonds:Strengthening the Alchemy of the Journal of Social Action in Counseling and Psychology
The purpose of this article is to articulate the incoming Co-Editors’ plan, mission, and vision to preserve and enhance the quality and reputation of the Journal of Social Action in Counseling and Psychology. Further, it provides some background about each editor, and offers words of appreciation to the individuals and the academic institutions that support them as Co-Editors.
Strengthening School-Family-Community Engagement Through Community Dialogues
Open communication among school community stakeholders strengthens collaboration and facilitates school transformation. Meaningful parent engagement through two-way conversations supports shared decision-making and developing a shared vision for change. We document the implementation and outcomes of community dialogues on race and ethnicity conducted with a group of 11 school and community members, including parents, caretakers, community professionals, and a teacher. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews with participants were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis to explore outcomes of community dialogues. Critical race theory in education guided the community dialogues implementation and qualitative analyses. Findings illuminate participant appreciation for sharing narratives, becoming aware of cultural differences, and raising critical awareness to mobilize community change. Implications of school community dialogues on educational outcomes and counseling practice are also described.
A College Knowledge Outreach Program for Latino Immigrant Parents: Process and Evaluation
As Latino immigrant families adjust to life in the U.S., they may experience individual and systems level barriers to meeting their children’s educational planning needs. In emerging immigrant communities, schools and social service agencies may not have all the resources and structures needed to serve Spanish-speaking parents. Thus, researchers and practitioners may need to consider partnership models to meet the needs of marginalized Spanish-speaking families. The article describes three stages in a community-based college knowledge educational outreach program for Latino parents: (1) needs assessment; (2) collaboration/implementation; and (3) evaluation. The educational outreach program was created and piloted for 27 Latino immigrant parents in two settings (middle school and community agency). The Bryan and Henry (2012) model for collaborative outreach for underserved populations was applied post-hoc to compare the pilot program with an ideal framework and identify possible improvements to the educational outreach program for Latino parents. Implications for program content and the process of community partnering are discussed.
Psychotherapy from the Margins: How the Pressure to Adopt Evidence-Based-Treatments Conflicts with Social Justice-Oriented Practice
This article posits that the current interest in Empirically-Validated-Treatment (EVT) leads to a culture within psychology and counseling that presents cognitive-behavioral orientation (CBT) as the only legitimate approach to psychotherapy. This can be problematic not only because it narrows the scope of what is considered legitimate evidence of effectiveness, but also because CBT, like most Western approaches to psychotherapy, locates the origin of, and solution to, mental illness within the individual. On the other hand, social justice-oriented practice addresses how inequality, discrimination, oppression, and other societal-level forces contribute to mental illness at the individual level. Using a case example as an anchor for the ideas presented, I discuss how narrow definitions of empirical evidence have been used to justify the marginalization of multiple theoretical orientations, which in turn has led to therapies that can reinforce the marginalization of disadvantaged clients. I argue that this trend within the fields of clinical and counseling psychology reflects a wider trend in the United States and other Western cultures of xenophobia and fear of globalization. Those privileged by hierarchies of power are motivated to find uniformity and the appearance of a superior, more “correct” way of being, and to then attempt to control the lives of people who do not fit this way of being. Complexity and diversity, on the other hand, are experienced as threatening and alienating. Within psychotherapy too, CBT provides an appearance of universality in treatment that can be very appealing, yet social justice advocates have been very skeptical of claims of universality. I conclude with a discussion of how the narrowing of theoretical approaches may harm the fields of clinical and counseling psychology, and psychotherapy clients. I discuss what psychologists and counselors can do to counter this trend by taking action in professional organizations, academia, and in the therapy room.
Reflections on the First Decade of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology
The founding editors reflect on the first decade of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology (JSACP) including the impetus for the journal, their personal journeys and motivations, as well as the aspirations articulated in the formation and first issue of JSACP. They highlight a number of articles published throughout the first decade of the journal, commenting on the contributions made by each article.
Social Justice Training in Action: A Counseling Psychologist's Role in a Police-Mental Health Collaborative Serving Disadvantaged Youth
Training programs in counseling psychology have endeavored to integrate social justice into their curricula and prepare their graduates to be agents of change in their communities (Goodman et al., 2004). However, there is too often a disconnect between social justice theory and training and how these principles are actualized in the community (Beer, Spanierman, Greene, and Todd, 2012). Using a case study of a counseling psychologist’s role in developing and administering Safety Net, a police-mental health collaborative to reduce youth contact with the juvenile justice system, this paper provides an example of a counseling psychologist engaged in a community collaboration and systems advocacy (Lewis, Arnold, House and Toporek, 2002) as integrated parts of his roles as therapist, consultant, and advocate. The authors present the case as an iterative, step-by-step process which can serve as a practical example for professionals and trainees working to translate theory into practice.
DREAMzone: Educating Counselors and Human Service Professionals Working with Undocumented Students
This article discusses the development and implementation of DREAMzone, an educational intervention designed to provide counselors and other human service professionals with awareness, knowledge, and skills for working with undocumented students. DREAMzone is driven by four learning objectives: (a) identify and deconstruct preconceptions of undocumented immigrants; (b) increase knowledge about laws and policies affecting the experiences of undocumented students; (c) engage in direct contact with undocumented students; and (d) acquire skills, practices, and resources for working with undocumented students. Program reflections are provided, including future directions for effectuating a systems level transformation within higher education.
A Social-­‐Justice Informed Evaluation of a Mentorship-Based Program Pairing At-Risk Youth and Holocaust Survivors
This paper describes a social justice informed, formative evaluation of a community-based intervention program in our community that paired marginalized Latinx youth and Holocaust survivor mentors. This program is a unique effort to address the issues facing this youth population through difficult dialogues and mentorship from a group who has clearly suffered oppression. Using a qualitative, community-based approach, eight program participants were interviewed to explore the aspects of the program that were helpful or challenging among youth mentees and survivor mentors. We reflect on the success of mentorship interventions in promoting bridges of understanding between populations with different combinations of power and privilege. Emergent themes from the evaluation suggest that this community-based mentorship program led to several positive outcomes, including increased openness to diversity, increased empathy, and increased potential meaning-making for mentor survivors, as well as some challenges such as clearer program expectations and program planning issues. Using a lens of Positive Youth Development and social justice, we detail the lessons learned from this mentoring program for future counselors and psychologists interested in program development and evaluation. We also provide reflections on the formative program evaluation process for future community-based researchers and the personal impact of the experience on the students in training. Finally, we reflect on impact validity and the systems level transformative change that can be promoted through community-based programs such as this one.
Community and Public Arena Advocacy Training Challenges, Supports, and Recommendations in Counseling Psychology: A Participatory Qualitative Inquiry
Despite a continuing need for clinicians to engage in socially-­‐just practice that addresses systemic factors impacting the mental health of clients through advocacy, there are often limited formalized opportunities for doctoral counseling psychology students to be exposed to and to engage in community or public arena advocacy. Two counseling psychology faculty members initiated and supervised a Participatory Action Research (PAR) team comprised of six advanced counseling psychology doctoral students and three early career counseling psychologists with experience conducting community and public arena advocacy. The nine PAR team members explored the doctoral students’ experiences conducting advocacy during their doctoral training and the resulting qualitative data was analyzed using a content analysis methodology. The study results highlight the challenges inherent in facilitating and conducting these types of advocacy training activities, discuss essential supports provided by their doctoral programs, and offer recommendations to counseling psychology faculty interested in preparing their students to engage in this work.
A Personal Memorial Tribute Paul Bodholt Pedersen
A personal memorial tribute to Paul B. Pedersen
Foro Comunitario de Investigación. Una Herramienta Multipropósito
El foro comunitario es una herramienta ampliamante utilizada por organizaciones de la sociedad civil, en ocasiones junto con las administraciones públicas. Como instrumento de acción, el foro comunitario ha sido objeto de escasa atención académica o científica. A pesar de ello, es posible identificar algunas características comunes: (1) es un encuentro que tiene lugar en una comunidad de personas, (2) la comunidad participa en su organización y desarrollo, (3) el asunto que se aborda es relevante para la comunidad, y (4) hay al menos una fase de exposición, una fase de discusión, y una fase de conclusiones. Este trabajo presenta un tipo de encuentro, denominado Foro Comunitario de Investigación (FCI). Se trata de una aplicación de foro comunitario, donde el asunto que se aborda son los resultados de una investigación. Con este cometido, el trabajo define el FCI, describe sus objetivos específicos, propone un esquema o método de realización, y ejemplifica su aplicación con un caso concreto. While there has been increased attention to advocacy within counseling and counseling psychology, it has been noted that trainees generally feel unprepared to engage in advocacy and do not participant e in this type of work to a large extent, even with increased age or professional experience). The qualitative study summarizes the findings of a project within a graduate multicultural counseling course designed to increase trainee knowledge and confidence related to advocacy. This project required students (N = 19) to complete individual advocacy projects in the community, with opportunities for self-reflection and evaluation of their progress throughout the semester. Student reflection responses about the effects of this project were analyzed using methods from Grounded Theory by a collaborative research team. This process resulted in a core category of responses that included expanded definitions of advocacy, increased self-confidence regarding advocacy work, obstacles encountered, and reactions to the course assignment. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Evaluating the Ally Role: Contributions, Limitations, and the Activist Position in Counseling and Psychology
Community action is a core mission of activism in counseling and psychology, and the ally role is often viewed as integral to this work. This article provides a review of the benefits as well as the limitations of the ally role in social action in counseling and psychology. Lastly, the authors advocate for a values-based activism role as an alternative to the ally position in order to enhance effectiveness in achieving social change in counseling and psychology.
University and College Counseling Centers' Commitment to Social Justice
The aim of this study was to examine social justice activities of university and college counseling centers. Seventy center directors provided data on their centers’ commitment to social justice activities, the existence and type of prevention services offered, and other indications of social justice efforts. Findings revealed that a vast majority of centers were committed to and engaged in a variety of social justice-related activities, regardless of their staff composition. Size of university was a significant predictor of only selfrated commitment to social justice.
Counseling Advocacy Competencies in Action: Lessons Learned through the See the Triumph Campaign
With the growing emphasis on social justice in the counseling and psychology professions, mental health professionals are increasingly called upon to engage in advocacy work. In this article, the authors describe their advocacy campaign, See the Triumph, which aims to end the stigma surrounding intimate partner violence. See the Triumph is based on research with survivors of intimate partner violence, whose stories inspired the development of the campaign. The article describes how the See the Triumph campaign reflects the American Counseling Association’s Advocacy Competencies, as well as the most significant lessons learned through the campaign.
Exploring School Counselor Advocacy in the Career Development of Undocumented Latino Youth
School counselors working on career development objectives with undocumented Latino youth have unique challenges that can inform and improve advocacy efforts within the counseling profession. With approximately two million undocumented Latino students in the U.S. public education system (Passel, 2006; Passel and Cohn, 2011), school counselors are faced with unique challenges in providing and advocating for career services to this marginalized group. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 16 school counselors providing career counseling to undocumented Latino students within six states with the highest populations of undocumented Latinos. Using grounded theory methodology (Patton, 2002, Corbin and Strauss, 2008) results generated salient themes in how school counselors understand the barriers facing undocumented Latino youth and provided important insights into how the school counseling profession can improve advocacy for this population.
Undocumented Latina/o Immigrants in Multidisciplinary Settings: Behavioral Health Providers’ Role in Promoting Optimal, Ethical Healthcare
Undocumented immigrants experience health and treatment disparities exceeding those experienced by other immigrants (Hacker et al., 2011). Behavioral health providers in multidisciplinary medical settings play an integral role in the delivery of services to the 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States, most of whom are Latina/o. Undocumented immigrants face cultural, legal, language, and psychological barriers that affect healthcare access, treatment utilization, and adherence (Achkar and Macklin, 2009). In the context of these disparities, little consensus exists regarding an ethical decisionmaking process specific to this population. How does a behavioral health provider respond to these dilemmas? This article reviews the changing sociopolitical landscape for the healthcare of undocumented immigrants. Case vignettes highlight and address important ethical issues arising from behavioral health providers’ work with this population. We conclude with recommendations regarding the navigation of these ethical challenges and the provision of high quality, accessible healthcare to undocumented immigrants.
Opening School Doors to Communities and Families: A Social Capital Perspective for Multiparty Collaboration
Multiparty collaboration is largely acknowledged as a best practice strategy for school counselors. Although collaboration among schools, families, and communities is seen as necessary for community change and systems transformation, policies and efforts to increase collaboration in and with schools are a step ahead of theory and research. This article introduces social capital theory as a lens for school counselors who are working to transform their communities through multiparty collaboration. Practical suggestions for strengthening collaborative practice and research on multiparty collaboration are offered.
A Psychometric Review of Instruments for Social Justice and Advocacy Attitudes
The authors review instruments measuring social justice and advocacy. A review of the literature revealed four scales that met inclusion criteria. The Activism Orientation Scale (AOS), Social Issues Advocacy Scale (SIAS), Social Issues Questionnaire (SIQ), and the Social Justice Scale (SJS) are evaluated in terms of item development, psychometric properties, and practical utility. Each instrument was evaluated on item development, reliability (internal consistency, test-retest reliability), and evidence for validity (in terms of content, internal structure, and relationship with other variables). In general, all of the instruments lacked adequate levels of psychometric evidence in test-retest reliability, validation on more diverse samples, and use of more robust confirmatory methods (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis). Recommendations and future directions for research are discussed.
Towards a Critically Conscious Approach to Social and Emotional Learning in Urban Alternative Education: School Staff Members’ Perspectives
Social and emotional learning (SEL) has been well researched and validated as an important component of youth education (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Elias et. al., 1997). However, much of the literature implies a very monolithic approach to SEL interventions (Watts, Griffith, & Abdul-Adil, 1999). The current study examines a predominately African-American urban alternative school’s unique approach to reaching students’ SEL needs. Utilizing Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2012), researchers interviewed 15 staff members at the school, ranging from teachers to mental health professionals to community educators, to obtain a thorough understanding of the unique approaches to SEL within urban alternative education. Implications for educators and mental health professionals working in alternative educational settings are discussed
Working with Family, Friends, and Allies of LBGT Youth
As a historically marginalized population, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are at risk for myriad negative outcomes and as a result, seek counseling services at disproportionate rates. Although the role of family, friends, and allies (FFA) has been supported as a resiliency factor with LGBT youth, minimal attention has been given to the inclusion of FFA in counseling interventions. Building on the developmental, preventative, and wellness foundation, this manuscript utilizes an ecological approach to identify points of entry for systemic interventions with FFA across the micro, meso, exo, and macro levels (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) of LGBT youth experience.
Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence as Advocates for Social Change
Intimate partner violence is a major public health issue that presents numerous potential challenges and negative consequences for survivors. The external barriers and systemic oppression that contribute to these challenges and consequences are potentially relevant factors for counselors to address in social justice advocacy efforts. In addition to advocacy initiatives led by counselors, counselors can support their clients who have experienced IPV victimization to engage in self-advocacy, as well as advocacy efforts designed to promote positive social change. This study examines how survivors of IPV (n=123) think about themselves as potential or actual advocates, as well as survivors’ considerations for engaging in advocacy efforts. We apply content analysis methodology to identify themes within respondents’ qualitative responses to an advocacy-related question on an electronic survey on the process of overcoming abuse. The following themes emerged: the significance of survivors’ involvement in advocacy, survivors’ personal qualities and skills required for effective advocacy, validation of survivors’ right to choose whether or not to engage in advocacy, and examples of survivors’ large and small-scale advocacy efforts. The ACA Advocacy Competencies are then used to organize and operationalize survivors’ perceptions and experiences related to their involvement in advocacy efforts. The unique opportunities and challenges that survivors may encounter when they engage in advocacy initiatives at the individual, community, and societal levels are considered. This study aims to expand the concept of self-advocacy to survivors of IPV and other similarly marginalized groups, highlighting the potential for personal empowerment and social change.
Addressing Social Injustice with Urban African American Young Men Through Hip-hop: Suggestions for School Counselors
In this manuscript, the author discusses how hip-hop and rap music can be used to as a tool for social justice advocacy to stimulate urban African American young men’s sociopolitical empowerment to combat educational barriers. The manuscript includes a historical examination of the environment in which hip-hop culture was conceived. The focus then shifts to how particular hip-hop artists’ lyrical content is germane to the social justice advocacy orientation mandate of 21st century professional school counselors working in urban settings. Finally, practical suggestions are be provided for how social justice oriented professional school counselors can apply this content when working directly with urban African American young men.
Psychology and the Prevention of War Trauma
The role of professional psychology in providing assistance to soldiers and veterans was highlighted by an issue of the American Psychologist devoted to a program for using positive psychology for resilience training. Shortcomings of that approach led to AP agreeing to publish another issue on alternative perspectives. This article reviewed for that issue but was not accepted by their reviewers. Since it is critical of the relation between the American Psychological Association and US military, readers deserve the opportunity to see what was rejected. Psychologists have an obligation to provide a full measure of options for addressing soldier distress including those that might encourage release from service. Psychologists also have an ethical obligation to question the rationale by a sponsoring organization, the armed services, for exposing the soldier recipients of psychological services to unwarranted risks of preventable wars. Application of positive psychology to resilience training in the current military system fails to meet these responsibilities.
Trends, Changes, Challenges in North American (Eurocentric) Psychology: Rethinking Assumptions, Practices, and Organization in Socio-Political Contexts
A Special Tribute to Dr. Judy Lewis (1939-2014)Counselor for Social Justice
Critical Community Pratice: An Introduction to the Special Section
What does it mean to practice critically in community settings? How do counselors, psychologists, social workers, community development workers, and other human service practitioners get beyond patching up the wounded and sending them back to contend with the toxic conditions in communities and society? What individual and organizational beliefs and practices would support those in need while simultaneously contributing to changing social conditions? This paper explores a model of critical community practice that highlights the theoretical underpinnings, practical applications, and organizational implications of community practice that is more radical and transformative. It also serves as an introduction to the four papers that follow in this special section.
Community Cultural Development for Social Change: Developing Critical Praxis
A growing number of writers in community psychology have called for re-claiming the radical impetus that inspired the development of the field. In this article we describe a program of work facilitated by a community cultural development agency that uses community arts practice to create, promote and improve opportunities for participation, network development, and empowerment in rural Western Australian communities. The program of work we describe in this article sits within a broader systematic effort aimed at social change in a specific geographic region of Western Australia, and reflects a particular commitment to challenging the continuing social exclusion of Aboriginal people in postcolonizing Australia. Informed by writing within community and liberation psychologies, we discuss three community arts projects and highlight the key concepts of participation, power/empowerment and situated knowing in our examination of community cultural development as participatory methodology. We emphasize the iterative and generative nature of arts practice and argue that community cultural development practice is often aimed at both instrumental as well as transformative outcomes. We suggest that the transformative dimensions require a critical theoretical lens to help explicate the operations of power and coloniality in the micro settings of community practice.
Critiquing and Analyzing the Effects of Neoliberalism on Community Organizing: Implications and Recommendations for Practitioners and Educators
Although community organizing has historic and current roots as a mode of practice, characterized by people coming together to collectively address unmet needs and/or challenge inequality, neoliberal trends beginning to form in the 1980s have negatively impacted community organizing. Neoliberal values, which promote individualism, capitalism, the existence of welfare states, and reform from solely within the system are concerning to the future of community practice. This article provides a critique and analysis of the impact of neoliberalism on community organizing in three areas: The influence of evidence-based practice on dictating how community organizers practice, a lack of focus on social movements in community organizing, and the professionalization of community organizing, which marginalizes nonprofessionals engaged in community organizing. This article exposes potential problems arising from within community organizing as a result of neoliberalism. In order to uncover and analyze the major effects of neoliberalism, we propose a theoretical framework that combines critical theory and Foucault’s work on social control. We end the analysis by providing recommendations for practitioners of community organizing as well as for educators teaching about community organizing.
Observing Privilege: Examining Race, Class, and Gender in Health and Human Service Organizations
Race, class, and gender dynamics can result in power differentials and discrimination in organizations. Such deleterious effects are particularly troubling for non-profit agencies with diverse employee and community bases and that endeavor to redress social inequality through service and program provision. Foucault (1975, 1980) as well as Andersen and Collins’s (2007) theories provide a means to conceptualize race, class, and gender as power processes that contribute to the production and maintenance of organizational privilege (unearned benefits and advantages). This study uses bivariate and multivariate analyses and data from five health and human service organizations to assess employee perceptions about dynamics that foster organizational privilege. Modeling results indicate that although organizational position is the most influential indicator in explaining perceptions about participation in decision-making, race is the most important predictor of perceptions about access to learning resources and influential relationships. These results also suggest that formally educated White employees are best positioned to access privilege. Thus, such organizations may be fostering social injustices with detrimental effects for employee culture and the communities they serve.
Engaging a Community-based Perspective: The Problems of and Prospects for a Grassroots Endeavor in the Dominican Republic
The purpose of this article is to bring to the forefront the inconsistency of so-called “grassroots” organizations that operate by using traditional structures. The case of Educate Everyone, a nonprofit organization in the Dominican Republic, is utilized to illustrate this incompatibility at the organizational level, and identify the ways in which this issue plays out in a project. Additionally, possibilities for the organization to employ a community-based framework are discussed. The accounts that are presented to explore the central theme stem from two months of fieldwork that were spent carrying out a participatory action research project with volunteers who support Educate Everyone’s annual academic camp.
Politics and Research of Immigration: Implications for Counseling and Psychological Scholarship and Action
Research about and with recent immigrants has expanded within psychology, counseling, and related fields. Such research has a potential to contribute significantly toward social action through affecting cultural understanding and public policies. However, counseling and psychology professionals and researchers often lack understanding of historical and current trends affecting this research. Thus, in this article we discuss the broader contextual influences on the scholarly focus on immigration within the psychological literature, reviewing the issues and debates, both historical and current, that dominate scholarly discussions regarding constructs related to immigration. Specifically, we focus on reviewing divergent perspectives on acculturation, transnationalism and immigrant identity, immigrant mental health issues, measurement strategies, and attitudes toward immigrants. Lastly, the article highlights the intersection of politics and research in immigration scholarship within counseling and psychology. Specific suggestions for social action resulting from this knowledge are presented.
Re-Thinking Youth Suicide: Language, Culture, and Power
In this article we set out the context and provide the theoretical resources for re-thinking youth suicide as a sociocultural, political, and relational issue. Drawing on recent high profile youth suicides as reference points, we aim to illuminate some of the complex relational processes and sociopolitical conditions that may make some lives more ‘unlivable’ than others. We adopt a social constructionist perspective to argue that experiences of distress, understandings of self, and knowledge about suicide are not stable and objective entities awaiting discovery. Rather, they are brought into being through historically and culturally specific social practices, including language, discourse and relations of power. We then turn to more recently developed cultural frameworks and social justice orientations as a way of bringing the much neglected topics of culture and power into the scholarly conversation about youth suicide. We conclude by exploring some of the implications for practice and policy that might follow from these reformulations.
Tackle Prostate Cancer: A Doctoral Student's Response
This first hand reflection as a doctoral counseling student narrates my social action response after learning my diagnosis with prostate cancer. I discuss my experience, review facts about prostate cancer, and apply Bandura’s (1977) Social Cognitive Theory, a SWOT analysis, and Eriksen’s (1997) social action stages to my activities. These illustrate how I used my story and unique community resources to create awareness and raise funds through an event at a high school football game. Possibilities for additional advocacy events are also discussed.
The Use of Multiculturally-Competent Research Methods to Promote Social Justice in Counseling and Psychology
Social justice enjoys a long history in the fields of counseling and psychology. Despite this, several authors have noted barriers to a more thorough integration of a social justice orientation into these fields. With this special issue we attempt to address some of these barriers by focusing on the ways that research may be used to promote social justice. Specifically, we aim to guide counselors and psychologists in the production and consumption of research that promotes social justice by modeling this research and providing recommendations for implementing it. With five interrelated papers, including this introduction paper and a conclusion paper, we hope to meet three major goals. First, we intend to extend the existing awareness and understanding of research that promotes social justice, especially where understudied populations (e.g., those experiencing material poverty, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ individuals) are concerned. Second, we hope that by engaging in a discussion of socially just research we highlight one means of strengthening the relationship between research and practice. Third, we intend to offer “best practices” recommendations. In working toward these three goals, we hope to encourage rigor and a high standard for socially just research as well as an appreciation of diverse methodologies.
Qualitative Research as Social Justice Practice with Culturally Diverse Populations
The qualitative research process can offer counselors and psychologists the opportunity to participate in social justice practice. Qualitative research contributes to social justice when researchers promote the following principles: equity, access, participation, and harmony for culturally diverse populations, those currently most at risk for acts of social injustice. In this manuscript we suggests ways in which qualitative approaches can provide a vehicle by which social justice can be enacted when researchers are conscious and deliberate about these intentions. To this end, we review and highlight best practices in socially just qualitative research processes across the following aspects of research: design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, and application of findings.
In Defense of Quantitative Methods: Using the “Master’s Tools” to Promote Social Justice
Empiricism in the form of quantitative methods has sometimes been used by researchers to thwart human welfare and social justice. Some of the ugliest moments in the history of psychology were a result of researchers using quantitative methods to legitimize and codify the prejudices of the day. This has resulted in the view that quantitative methods are antithetical to the pursuit of social justice for oppressed and marginalized groups. While the ambivalence toward quantitative methods by some is understandable given their misuse by some researchers, we argue that quantitative methods are not inherently oppressive. Quantitative methods can be liberating if used by multiculturally competent researchers and scholar-activists committed to social justice. Examples of best practices in social justice oriented quantitative research are reviewed.
The Value of Mixed Methods Designs to Social Justice Research in Counseling and Psychology
This article highlights the potential value of mixed methods designs for social justice research in counseling, psychology, and related human services professions. Though representing only a small minority of research designs used in these fields, mixed methods approaches are gaining in popularity. A rationale for the use of mixed methods research in the human services generally, and multicultural/social justice counseling specifically, is presented. Various mixed methods designs are reviewed, examples of published mixed methods multicultural research are highlighted, and a flow diagram to determine whether or not to incorporate a mixed method design for a particular study is put forth. Limitations of mixed methods designs are also acknowledged.
Toward Best Practices in Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed- Method Research: A Social Justice Perspective
Various research methods can be appropriate for social justice aims. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches offer different kinds of strengths in advancing a social justice agenda. This article recaptures and expands upon the ideas presented by the authors of this special issue, recommending best practices in research for social justice in the following areas: (a) cultural competence and the role of the researcher(s); (b) formulating the focus of the research; (c) selection of the underlying paradigm and research method/design; (d) the research team: formation, process, and issues of power; (e) power and relationship with research participants; and (f) data gathering, analysis, and reporting.
Dissecting the Killing of Trayvon Martin
Power is long-noted for influencing human behavior. The following article proposes that the drive to achieve personal power may have been a determining factor in what caused the death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida.
Copyright (c) 2013 Geraldine L. Palmer, Ph.D. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Three personal reflections provided by doctoral students of the Michigan School of Professional Psychology (Farmington Hills, Michigan) address identification of individual perspectives on the tragic events surrounding Trayvon Martin’s death. The historical ramifications of a culture-in-context and the way civil rights, racism, and community traumatization play a role in the social construction of criminals are explored. A justice orientation is applied to both the community and the individual via internal reflection about the unique individual and collective roles social justice plays in the outcome of these events. Finally, the personal and professional responses of a practitioner who is also a mother of minority young men brings to light the need to educate against stereotypes, assist a community to heal, and simultaneously manage the direct effects of such events on youth in society. In all three essays, common themes of community and growth are addressed from varying viewpoints. As worlds collided, a historical division has given rise to a present unity geared toward breaking the cycle of violence and trauma. The authors plead that if there is no other service in the name of this tragedy, let it at least contribute to the actualization of a society toward growth and healing.
Copyright (c) 2013 Roxanne Christensen, LaSonia Barlow, Demetrius E. Ford https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Violence against Individuals and Communities: Reflecting on the Trayvon Martin Case - An Introduction to the Special Issue
In February 2012, Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African American teenager, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida. The incident and subsequent police response, or lack thereof, resulted in debate, controversy and outrage regarding the role that racial bias may have played in this incident. Although there were many individuals who mourned the death of Trayvon Martin, the perception of this as a racially based incident was clearly discrepant between white individuals and communities of color. In the midst of this mourning and debate, psychologists and counselors responded as community members, professionals and researchers. This special issue of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology was initiated in March 2012, as a forum for counselors and psychologists to voice the impact of this and similar incidents as well as to propose social action that we can take as professionals to prevent and respond to hate related violence. This article provides a foundation and overview for the special issue.
Using the Science of Psychology to Target Perpetrators of Racism and Race-Based Discrimination for Intervention Efforts: Preventing Another Trayvon Martin Tragedy
Psychological science offers a variety of methods to both understand and intervene when acts of potential racial or ethnic racism, bias or prejudice occur. The Trayvon Martin killing is a reminder of how vulnerable African American men and boys, especially young African American men, are to becoming victims of social inequities in our society. We examine several historical events of racial bias (the Los Angeles civil disturbance after the Rodney King verdict, the federal government’s launch of a “War on Drugs” and the killing of Trayvon Martin) to illustrate the ways in which behaviors of racism and race-based discrimination can be viewed from a psychological science lens in the hopes of eliminating and preventing these behaviors. If society is to help end the genocide of African American men and boys then we must broaden our focus from simply understanding instances of victimization to a larger concern with determining how policies, laws, and societal norms serve as the foundation for maintaining implicit biases that are at the root of race-based discrimination, prejudice, bias and inequity. In our call to action, we highlight the contributions that psychologists, particularly racial and ethnic minority professionals, can make to reduce the negative impact of racial and ethnic bias through their volunteer/pro bono clinical efforts.
Two cities. Two people of color fatally shot by those charged with security and law enforcement. Two communities torn apart across racial lines. One city reacts conventionally with criminal charges and court proceedings. The other similarly engages the legal system but additionally engages in a Restorative Circle, a restorative process designed to create conditions for mutual understanding and repair of harm. In this article, the case of Trayvon Martin is juxtaposed with a less well-known case in Seattle involving the death of Native American woodcarver, John T. Williams. The two cases are summarized and examined in terms of their racial dynamics and the subsequent differential impact of the restorative response on the Seattle community.
Moving from Words to Action: Reflections of a First Year Counselor Educator for Social Justice
This article provides a personal narrative of my experience as a first year counselor educator organizing and facilitating a public panel discussion held at George Mason University in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin. The panel discussion provided an opportunity for open, honest, and constructive dialogue among students, faculty, staff, and community members on such topics as individual and institutional racism, stereotypes of Black masculinity, gun control laws, hate crimes against young Black men, the myth of a post-racial United States, and what we can do as citizens to prevent such tragedies in the future. I will also discuss the lessons learned, not only about organizing a public forum, but about taking the initiative.
Reflections on the Murder of Trayvon Martin
The tragic murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida has quickly become the platform from which an entire movement has emerged. The first four authors, as members of the African American community, have elected to share their own personal experiences, reactions, and struggles with not only racial discrimination as it relates to the Trayvon Martin case, but racial discrimination in general for African Americans. The purpose of the article is to educate readers on the harsh realities of pervasive racism and to provide recommendations on ways it can be addressed. At the conclusion of this article, the authors have provided recommendations for training programs;educators and practitioners that will help them effectively work through instances of racial discrimination.
Reflections of a Black Male Counseling Psychology Doctoral Student: Lessons Learned from APA Division 45 Commentary and the Role of Social Justice for Counseling Psychologists
The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin has received nationwide media coverage, even garnering commentary by the U.S. President. The attention is unique in the sense that young Black men in Martin’s age group have consistently been the most likely to be killed as a result of homicide and often ignored by the media. A personal reflection is provided to give context to the racial socialization process as well as the internal struggles being faced by some Black men in the United States. In addition, postings have been shared from the American Psychological Association Division 45 electronic mailing list capturing the social justice activism process in pursuit of justice for Trayvon Martin. The results of this article call for deeper analysis of the cause of racially motivated killings.
Reflections on the Experiences of Turbaned Sikh Men in the Aftermath of 9/11
The murder of Trayvon Martin is a painful reminder of the violence perpetuated towards subjugated groups who are often deemed suspicious because of the color of their skin and/or clothing. The association of the hoodie and Black skin with being a member of a violent group is an association that is familiar for Sikh men. Many today are unaware of how Sikh men have been vilified because of their skin color and turbans. The terrorist attacks, which occurred on September 11, 2001, had a significant impact on turbaned Sikh men living in North America. These men have been targeted since then because of their shared visual image with the perpetrators of 9/11. This brief reflection discusses the experiences of discrimination these men have experienced, gives examples of psychological and relational injuries related to 9/11, and offers personal and professional lessons learned through conversations with turbaned Sikh men on their experiences.
In this essay I critically examine the idea of race in light of the killing of Trayvon Martin, an African-American unarmed teenager, in Florida in February 2012. I utilize ideas from liberation psychology, including psychic colonization, and depth psychology, including cultural complex, to explore the racialized black as a colonized, traumatized other. I also use my autoethnographic experience (as a Jamaican who now lives in the United States) to discuss how identities built on race are a source of suffering both when we make others black and when we are made black. Bearing black robs us of the possibility of our humanity. Throughout, I ask several questions about sustaining race as a sociological idea if we truly intend to dismantle racism. I invite us to reconsider race in light of an instance where Rastafarians, a small group of Afro-Jamaicans who express profound race consciousness, determine their own image, not only as black, and as a form of resisting white supremacy.
Talking about the Trayvon Martin Case in Psychology and Counseling Training and Psychotheraphy
The Trayvon Martin tragedy (the shooting of a Black male adolescent in a Florida gated community) was covered frequently by media outlets for a few months before the level of coverage gradually became only periodic updates on the status of the case and court proceedings. In response to the coverage, the listserv of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues) became a site for sharing information about the case, resources, comments and recommendations. Inspired by one of the comments regarding the importance of taking action in the form of conversations and dialogues in counseling and psychology training settings and psychotherapy, this article (1) reviews guidelines such as the APA Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists, (2) notes applicable literature on the importance of promoting discussions about multicultural issues in training settings and psychotherapy, (3) describes examples of discussions held in training settings following the tragedy, and (4) lists several recommendations for facilitating conversations about the tragedy.
"What's under There?" The Questioning of Civil Rights for Sikh Men
On the heels of the highly publicized deaths of multiple Black youth in the U.S., the case of Trayvon Martin is yet another tragedy. While we mourn his loss, his death should also be seen as a call for justice for him, and more broadly a call for social justice. In this manuscript, parallels between the Black and Sikh communities in the U.S. are highlighted. In particular, the suspension of rights of and violence against Sikh men and boys in the U.S. and globally are identified along with examples of social justice action taken by Sikh organizations and mental health professionals in response to acts of oppression. This article represents a call to action for all communities to engage in support of social justice across groups.
Dissecting the Killing of Trayvon Martin: The Power Factor
A Moment to Come Together: Personal Reflections on Trayvon Martin
Revolutionary Leadership: From Paulo Freire to the Occupy Movement
All over the world, individuals in groups are attempting to occupy their “Commons.” In an era of gross income and power divides, this reclamation must go hand-in-hand with a process of psychic and interpersonal decolonization, where the received hierarchical roles and leadership practices we have inherited are disrupted and thrown into question. Beginning with Paulo Freire’s ideas on revolutionary leadership, and continuing to the principles and practices emerging in the OCCUPY movement, the author focuses on the consensus process and on horizontalism (horizontalidad). To aid in the radical transformation of the structures of oppression, counselors and other dialogically-skilled individuals are needed to help facilitate shared leadership, inclusive dialogue, conflict transformation, and consensus decision-making.
Social Justice in Application: Counselor Training in a Legal Context
A paradigm shift in counseling toward a social justice framework indicates the need for corresponding change in counselor education practices. In this article, the authors present a unique, interdisciplinary training program at one university, whereby counseling students aid clientele through social justice counseling in collaboration with students from the Law School and Modern Language Department. Program development and challenges unique to this collaborative venture are described. Three cases will illustrate the counselors’ role in the context of legal practice.
Making the Social Justice Connection: Development of a Community Resource Guide
This article describes a project developed by counseling and counseling psychology students enrolled in a Social Justice in Counseling Psychology course. The purpose of the project, a course assignment, was to integrate knowledge of social justice principles, theories, and strategies into a tangible effort to promote social justice within our community. This project entailed the creation of a community resource guide to be used by our department’s training clinic, which provides low-cost psychological services to community residents. The contexts in which the project was undertaken, including the course, department, and training clinic, are described. The development and implementation of the project are explained with emphasis on how the project was guided by a definition of social justice and by principles of advocacy and empowerment. The current status of the project is also discussed. Finally, the strengths and limitations of the project are presented and general reflections on the process of student engagement in social justice are offered.
Heuristic Understanding as a Component of Collaborative, Interdisciplinary, Social Justice Advocacy Research
This article describes the experiences of three university colleagues with a common interest in, and commitment to, the retention of students from traditionally underserved populations including those who are racial/ethnic minorities or first-generation college. Using Moustaka’s (1990) phases of heuristic understanding as an organizational framework, we discuss our use of autoethnography to arrive at new understandings of ourselves as researchers and our area of inquiry. Consistent with social justice advocacy research, this research collaboration has the potential to inform efforts to empower traditionally underserved college students and to facilitate transformational change in an institution of higher education.
Social Justice Collaboration in Schools: A Model for Working with Undocumented Latino Students
Undocumented Latino students raise unique challenges for school counselors and student affairs professionals. Fears of deportation, limited access to higher education, and restrictions in future opportunities for employment are common. These obstacles can be lessened in the academic setting when school counselors and student affairs professionals work collaboratively toward systemic social justice advocacy. The purpose of this article is to illuminate the challenges encountered by undocumented Latino students and to introduce an ecological model that promotes social action within a K-16 system. Reflections on individual and collaborative social action interventions for undocumented students will be included. Implementation of this model may generate insights into how to educate professionals in both school counseling and student affairs on realistic and empowering methods to facilitate opportunities for undocumented Latino students.
A Critical Psychology of the Postcolonial: The Mind of Apartheid, by Derek Hook
Social Justice: Pushing Past Boundaries in Graduate Training
This article explores definitions and integration of social justice in graduate training in counseling and psychology. We examine both the professional literature and our own process in pushing past curricular and administrative boundaries by establishing an extra- or co-curricular component to graduate training that supports the further infusion of social justice principles in graduate training. We conclude with a call for further dialogue and action.
Continuing and Expanding the Multicultural Social Justice Leadership Conversation: An Introduction to the Special Issue of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology on the 2010 Multicultural Social Justice Leadership Development Academy
This paper provides a historical background and review of the literature on intergroup dialogues, with a focus on community-engaged dialogues. The authors illustrate the format, purpose, and community factors involved in the Day of Dialogue (DOD), an intergroup community dialogue series. An expansion of Zúñiga and Nagda’s (2001) stages of intergroup dialogue is used to critically examine dialogue issues and provide a structure for culturally appropriate, community-engaged implementation. Lessons learned from three years of DOD implementation are provided, including the following themes: Balancing process and content, maintaining flexibility, defining roles, identifying biases, identifying/engaging key players, allowing voices to be heard, mindfulness toward environment/structure, and promoting movement towards action. Concrete suggestions to guide future practice around creating effective, culturally appropriate, and community-engaged dialogues, as well as effectively empowering communities and fostering social change, will be discussed.
Perpetuating Oppression: Does the Current Counseling Discourse Neutralize Social Action?
The counseling profession, by virtue of research, dialogue, and the evolution of professional ideology, continues to uphold the viewpoint that psychological distress and disorders emanate from innate or biologically based factors. Consequently, the social reality that counseling partially defines through this discourse may inadvertently constrain the very movement that can most affect change through social action and engagement. Counseling professionals may unwittingly undercut attempts by oppressed individuals, groups, and their allies to create a more equitable and just society through civil disobedience and concerted social action. This article discusses how the current discourse on social justice may neutralize social action by reviewing discourse theory and presentation of a case study that offers strategies to operational discourse theory and support social action and engagement.
Voices: Exploring the Experiences of Non-Mental Health Professionals Working with Mexican Immigrants Affected by Deportation
With large numbers of immigrants living in the United States and a recent increase in deportations, it is imperative that mental health professionals are aware of the implications involved in working with immigrants affected by deportation. The perspectives of non-mental health professionals working with immigrants are valuable in providing insight into the complexity of issues encountered when working with this population. The participants discussed perceptions, reactions, perceived mental health needs, and recommendations for working with Mexican immigrants.
African-American Youth and Exposure to Community Violence: Supporting Change from the Inside
Children’s exposure to community violence and its effects on child health outcomes have become a major public health concern in this country, and African-American youth are at greatest risk. Participatory action research, as a vehicle for promoting social justice, is one tool that can be used to address community violence. This article describes the use of focus groups as a way to give African-American youth a voice in providing solutions to violence exposure through the revision of curricula (coping skills and civic engagement). Participants reported a variety of stressors, including exposure to violence, and a lack of coping strategies and adult support for processing violence. Suggestions for curriculum revisions are included. The process of conducting groups, lessons learned from the process, and implications for researchers interested in promoting social justice are discussed.
The Santa Barbara Wellness Project: Development and Implementation
This article discusses the creation, implementation and maintenance of the Santa Barbara Wellness Project. This initiative was developed in response to an increase in Latino teen suicides in Santa Barbara County in recent years. Community members including mental health professionals, university faculty and students, concerned citizens, youth and parents came together to help form a prevention program in the wake of this adversity. A basic program including components of relaxation, stress management, problem-solving, and decision-making was developed through consultation among these groups and modifications continue as needed. The program is rooted in the empowerment philosophy of Freire (1973, 2004). Thus far, over 500 individuals have been trained and we are in the process of conducting program evaluation. Challenges, “lessons learned,” and successes are discussed.
Latina/o Adolescents in an Emerging Immigrant Community: A Qualitative Exploration of their Future Goals
Although immigrant adolescents typically have high hopes for their futures, educational and career outcomes often do not match aspirations. The future aspirations of 17 Latina/o adolescents in an emerging immigrant community were explored. Qualitative interviews were conducted and analyzed using consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR). Interviews focused on goals for education/career and supports and barriers to reaching those goals. Overall, students expressed high aspirations but were unclear on how to achieve them. Family members and school personnel were seen as supportive, but with limitations. Barriers mentioned by most participants included early pregnancy, finances, and circumstances beyond their control; they declined to endorse other barriers when prompted. Students also held less optimistic views of the educational and career possibilities of an “average” Latina/o/a as compared to their own goals, which is framed in terms of stereotypes. A clear theme emerged where students placed the primary responsibility for their success or failure on themselves without acknowledging many barriers in the environment. Findings are discussed from a social justice point of view with implications that pertain to provision of college planning information, context for applying it, affective support, and systemic advocacy.
Part 1 of this article features the Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ) Code of Ethics formally endorsed in 2010. The ethical standards for practice, advocacy, assessment and diagnosis, supervision, research, and professional relationships, including consultation are outlined. In Part 2, following the presentation of the Code of Ethics, the mission and goals of CSJ as well as the process, and the development of the CSJ Code of Ethics are described.
Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ) Ethi
Methodological Challenges in Participatory Action Research with Undocumented Central American Migrants
An interdisciplinary participatory action research (PAR) project was designed in collaboration with local immigrant organizations to document the impact of deportation policy on Central American immigrant families living in the northeastern U.S. This paper reports on selected methodological challenges of university-based co-researchers in this community-university PAR process which is currently concluding its fourth year. The paper discusses the iterative action-reflection processes focusing on: (1) an overview of the PAR project and its multiple phases within the U.S. and in Guatemala; (2) select challenges and contributions of the PAR approach for participating immigrant families “living in the shadows” and, (3) methodological concerns from the three coauthors, who include a graduate student who joined the early stages of partnership-building; an assistant professor in the early stages of her career; and a senior scholar with many years of experience in activist scholarship. We conclude with thoughts on why, despite these challenges, PAR is “worth the trouble”.
The Paradoxes of Managing Employees’ Absences for Mental Health Reasons and Practices to Support Their Return to Work
The capacity to implement effective strategies in an organization largely depends on the capacity to mobilize on-site stakeholders around a common project. This study aims to identify the practices and paradigms of workplace stakeholders involved in managing and following up on the return to work of employees who have been absent for mental health reasons.
What to do about the boys? Advocating for system change when doing social justice work with girls
Girls‟ Studies has been a quickly growing field, which has included work focused on interventions designed to improve the lives of girls. Programs have been developed and utilized to address eating disorders and body image concerns, self-esteem, access to math and science mentors, experiences of sexism, and others. In this paper, we describe a social justice intervention designed to recognize and increase girls‟ resiliency. First, we provide a brief overview of current research and programming with girls and boys to provide a context for the intervention and the challenges that arose. Next, we describe how we navigated within a school system, managed mixed support from school personnel, and addressed male students‟ backlash about the girls‟ participation in the program. We include information from workshops and interviews with the adolescent girls to highlight their voices regarding their experiences of interpersonal sexism with their male classmates. We conclude with three key lessons we learned from this work, including the need to: address the systems in which girls live, consider the implications of an “empowerment” model, and anticipate possible areas of resistance. We pose these lessons in the hopes that we can contribute to dialogues amongst researchers, counselors, and scholars who are engaged in social change work and face challenges or barriers that may arise while doing this work.
Reflections of a Social Justice Counselor in Training: What Action Research Has Meant to Me
This article details my professional identity development as a social justice counselor and the role that action research has played in supporting my development. As an action researcher and social justice counselor, I have come to understand my location in the larger field of counseling as an “outsider-within” (Collins, 1990), positioned in the “borderlands” (Anzaldua, 1987) of the field. Action research helped me to understand how this positioning creates both opportunity and challenge for me personally and professionally. I describe three key lessons learned from my work as an action researcher that translate to my envisioned role as a counselor: 1) the impact of power and privilege on relationships 2) the significance of the process itself, and finally, 3) change is messy. I argue that my own struggle to secure for myself a sense of place and legitimacy within the field of counseling reflects a similar struggle to that being experienced by social justice counseling in general within the larger field of counseling.
Child Maltreatment and the Advocacy Role of Professional School Counselors
Recent focus in counseling has been on the expansion of advocacy to disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Utilizing advocacy dispositions and competencies, this article details the school counselor's role in working with maltreated children. Examples are cited for advocacy work at the individual child, school, and broader social levels.
“Hey, I’ve Got a Voice Too!” Narratives of Adversity, Growth and Empowerment
The present study explored meanings of “empowerment” from bottom-up perspectives. Sixteen low-income individuals experiencing homelessness and related forms of economic adversity participated. Participants reported experiencing empowerment, but also adversity, for example discrimination and ongoing poverty. Results are discussed in a broader societal context, with recommendations made for professionals interested in social and economic justice. Suggestions include enhanced inter-agency partnerships for underserved communities, investment in concepts such as workforce development, and increased opportunities for change through policy reform.
The Occupy Wall Street movement's emphasis on egalitarian decision making, mutual aid, and direct action originates in anarchist political practice even though most Occupiers are not anarchists and many hope to achieve a variety of liberal political reforms. Although the most immediate threats to Occupy are police repression and the stresses of winter, a more substantive threat is internal divisiveness over goals, tactics, and process as the movement responds inconsistently to external pressure and internal strain. A critical psychologist reflects on his experiences in the early stages of the movement in Boston and Florida, where he taught on-site classes designed to encourage appreciation of, and support for, radical rather than reformist goals.
Safer Spaces of Decolonize/Occupy Oakland: Some Reflections on Mental Health and Anti-Oppression Work in Revolutionary Times.
Since its inception in October, the eruption of the Decolonize/Occupy1 movement in Oakland, California has been swift and powerful. Safer Spaces2 is a volunteer-run committee that was formed at the inception of Decolonize/Occupy Oakland to provide anti-oppression advocacy and mental and emotional wellness support to participants of the movement. We were created quickly, creatively, and with little lived experience of a movement this powerful to draw on for guidance. This is an overview of the work we have been doing, and a brief reflection on my experiences of our collective as we have worked to serve the movement.
Publishing as Social Action: Building Editorial Policies for a Worldwide Journal
Numerous editorial policies and practices are suggested to increase publishing opportunities for scholars in areas of the world where resources are few and English is not the primary language.
Social Justice Counseling and Advocacy: Developing New Leadership Roles and Competencies
The fusion of scholarship and activism represents an opportunity to reflect on ways in which counselors and psychologists can begin to address the multilevel context faced by clients and client communities. Counselors and psychologists have embraced, and sometimes resisted, the wide range of roles including that of advocate and activist. This article reflects on a process that engaged workshop participants in examining the American Counseling Association Advocacy Competencies and exploring the possibilities of advocacy on behalf of their own clients. Further, the article presents recommendations for actions developed by participants through application of workshop principles regarding social action in the larger public arena. The workshop was a part of the National Multicultural and Social Justice Leadership Academy in 2010.
What Does It Mean to Be a Culturally-Competent Counselor?
Changing demographics require human service workers to become more multiculturally competent. Using the multicultural counseling competencies as a foundation, the presenters outlined strategies to develop competencies within the awareness, knowledge and skill domains of multicultural competence. The authors propose implications for improving advocacy for multicultural social justice.
Implementing Multicultural Social Justice Strategies in Counselor Education Training Programs
This article is based on the presentation on implementing multicultural social justice leadership strategies in counselor education programs. The George Mason University’s Counseling and Development Program was used as an example to illustrate how to successfully infuse multicultural social justice values into an entire graduate counselor training program. The article is written from two perspectives: 1) faculty’s discussion on the development and establishment of a multicultural social justice counseling program, and 2) current and past students’ viewpoints of the impact of the multicultural social justice training program on their personal and professional lives. Recommendations are also suggested to assist counseling and psychology programs on the implementation of multicultural social justice leadership strategies.
Implementing Multicultural-Social Justice Leadership Strategies When Advocating for the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning Persons
This article explores multicultural social justice leadership strategies in advocating with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) individuals. In the current sociopolitical climate, there is a great need for counselors and counselor educators to become more involved in LGBTQQ advocacy. In response to this need, the authors developed a collaborative content session that was presented at the Multicultural Social Justice Leadership Development Academy at the 2010 American Counseling Association Conference. The session was geared towards increasing the knowledge, awareness, and skills of multicultural social justice leaders who are advocating with LGBTQQ individuals and communities. In this article, the content of the session and the personal narratives of the presenters are reviewed, along with the recommendations and considerations that were discussed. Additionally, audience participation in the session is discussed along with the action strategies that were collaboratively developed as a part of the session.
Three Issues, Three Approaches, Three Calls to Action: Multicultural Social Justice in the Schools
This article provides case studies, statistics, and social justice advocacy as lenses to discuss three areas related to multicultural social justice in school settings. Each case study is followed by a reflection on the authors‟ experiences. The article culminates with suggestions, guidelines, and recommendations for applying social justice advocacy to a school setting.
A Social Justice Approach to School Counseling
Based on the 2010 Multicultural-Social Justice Leadership Development academy presentation, this article focuses on how school counselors can collaborate with critical stakeholders to help mitigate barriers to academic success for low-income students and students of color. The overarching goal of the presentation was to define social justice, collaboration, and present a multicultural-social justice approach to school-family-community collaboration. The presenters were two school counselor educators, a mental health counselor educator, and a college/university counselor educator who all believed in the necessity of working together in order to help promote academic achievement for all students. In this article, barriers to social justice advocacy, strategies for implementing a social justice framework, and implications for school counselor practice and research are discussed.
Multicultural-Social Justice Leadership Strategies: Counseling and Advocacy with Immigrants
Immigration in the United States has been steadily increasing. Accompanying the largest influx of migrants into the U.S. during the past 20 years have been stereotypes and myths about immigrant populations. Growing concern about the shifting demographics has resulted in political debates on immigration, discrimination, hate crimes, and escalating controversy about undocumented people, all of which has caused strong proponents for and strong opponents against stringent migrant policies and legislation. Changing demographics, policies, and falsehoods about migrants have led to increased mental health concerns within the migrant groups that require counselors and psychologists to understand and effectively work with the unique needs of migrants in culturally responsive ways. This article dispels some of the myths about immigrants and provides examples of culturally responsive interventions specifically targeting the distinctive experiences of migrant populations. Recommendations on advocacy activities and strategies for this group are also provided.
Neuroscience and Counseling: Central Issue for Social Justice Leaders
This article summarizes a presentation focusing on basics of neuroscience with special attention to implications for social justice. Participants’ questions and suggestions for action are presented.
Multicultural Social Justice and Human Rights: Strategic Professional Development for Social Work and Counseling Practitioners
Social work and counseling practitioners routinely provide services to clients of diverse cultural backgrounds. Multidimensional issues related to human diversity, social justice and human rights often prevent practitioners from providing competent and effective services to all populations. It is vital that these professionals focus on individual leadership development from a multicultural social justice perspective. The concept of social justice challenges existing structures and when paired with the human rights paradigm can significantly impact competent and ethical service delivery and practice. A focus on professional development among students, new professionals, and experienced practitioners can aid individuals in implementing human rights and social justice strategies within individual practice, organizations and communities.
Indigenous Ways of Knowing as a Philosophical Base for the Promotion of Peace and Justice in Counseling Education and Psychology
Nowhere in my language can I find support to bring an increased awareness of the current life challenges that exist today. Internal Peace in our individual lives and external Peace for our communities and our world entails that we ourselves be peaceful people. I once asked my elders to translate the word peace in our language. They looked at each other thoughtfully, bewildered at my inquiry, smiled and replied in agreement, digum hi’ki 'angaw hulew' (Let's all get along and respect one another). Peace in my language is not an abstraction. Peace happens when everyone is working together in a way that benefits everyone including those yet to come. In this way there is no mistake. Peace is not just a state of being, or doing, it is both. It is who we are. It is based on respect for one another. From this consciousness we can create a beautiful world for everyone. As a Washo Native American scholar I share my experience in Western academia, describe the inconsistency between the praxis of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and that of the field of counseling psychology. I share the way that I know how to make a better world for all by acknowledging the significance of Indigenous perspectives on counseling psychology in theory, research, and practice.
Striving to Remain a Native American in America: Resistance to Past and Present Injustices (Letter to My Son on the Day of His Second Piercing)
As a Native American, I wrote a letter to my grown son, recalling the onslaught of overt and subtle prejudices he endured as a direct result of his honoring traditional Native American ways. I focus primarily on my son’s unique heroic struggle in an oppressive and highly racialized society, but make glancing references throughout about Native Americans’ current intolerable predicament in the United States. I remind my son of lessons taught in tribal ceremonies about transforming the passionate aggressiveness of the warrior into a compassion that accomplishes lasting change. I write these things with my son’s permission.
Promoting Counseling Students’ Advocacy Competencies through Service-Learning
This article describes an action research evaluation of a service-learning advocacy project implemented in doctoral-level and masters-level classes in a CACREP-accredited counseling program. The project involved students working together (a) to develop public policy guides related to the 2008 Presidential election and (b) to plan and implement an event designed to inform the public about policies relevant to sexuality, career issues, and mental health. The qualitative action research evaluation of the project focused on students’ perceptions of the project throughout its implementation. The results indicate that the project holds value for student learning and service to the community, although students may vary in their perceptions of the project. The authors conclude with future directions for research and counselor education.
Mindful Wonderment: Using Focus Groups to Frame Social Justice
In the recent past many professional schools of education in the United States have embraced social justice as central to their mission in preparing teachers, counselors, and administrators to work in preK-16 settings. This article documents our initial inquiry guided by mindful wonderment into an effort to frame social justice as a collective collaboration involving support staff, faculty, and administrators within a graduate school of education. A series of focus groups made up of members of a school of education considered the commitment to social justice not only for its preK-16 candidates but also for transforming the environment and culture within the institution.
Are Consultation and Social Justice Advocacy Similar?: Exploring the Perceptions of Professional Counselors and Counseling Students
An exploratory pilot study was conducted to investigate the views of present and future counselors on whether and in what ways social justice advocacy and consultation may overlap and possibly synergize. Descriptive results indicate that study participants (n = 203) viewed (a) basic counseling skills, (b) problem-solving, (c) acting on behalf of clients, and (d) contextualizing client or student issues in relation to oppression as services that both consultants and advocates engage in. Practices such as diagnosis or direct action were viewed as unique to either consultation or advocacy. A multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that participants differed in their perceived similarity between consultation and advocacy based on the interaction of their practice setting and ethnic or racial identification. Implications for future research and theory are discussed.
ALGUNAS VECES EL POLVO ESTÁ EN NUESTROS OJOS, NO AFUERA: Dificultades y logros de una intervención de orientación psicoanalítica con niños en un barrio urbano-marginal de Lima
El presente texto pretende reflexionar, en el estilo de un relato y no de un artículo científico o académico, sobre una intervención de terapia grupal con niños de un barrio urbano-marginal de Lima, poblado por migrantes de zonas alto andinas, una buena parte desplazados o víctimas de otras formas de la violencia política que afectó al Perú principalmente entre los años 1980 y 2000. La intervención en mención fue llevada a cabo por el Centro de Atención Psicosocial y es la primera experiencia de trabajo extramural y con proyecciones comunitarias de esta institución. Muestra las dificultades de un grupo de psicoterapeutas de orientación psicodinámica para aplicar las técnicas y teorías aprendidas con poblaciones de otro origen cultural y social, con carencias y necesidades particulares, y también la dificultad que tuvieron de enmarcar la intervención a nivel comunitario, de pasar de un trabajo aislado en un setting terapéutico particular a uno que involucrara a diversos actores en un contexto más amplio. El relato es un va y viene entre los puntos de vista de los psicoterapeutas y de los pobladores de la zona sobre diversos aspectos de la intervención. Finalmente es una reflexión sobre las lecciones aprendidas.
Supporting Social Justice Advocacy: A Paradigm Shift towards an Ecological Perspective
The entrenched intrapsychic perspective that currently dominates the counseling professions does not philosophically support social justice advocacy. Because an intrapsychic approach to counseling focuses almost exclusively on change at the individual level, interventions to change an oppressive environment are routinely ignored. Thus, this manuscript presents the argument that a paradigm shift towards an ecological perspective, one that recognizes human behavior as a function of person-environment interaction, is necessary to provide practitioners a clear rationale to engage in social justice advocacy in counseling.
The T.R.A.I.N.E.R. model described in this article engages counselors in social advocacy and professional advocacy concurrently, facilitates counselor connection and collaboration with diverse communities, and raises the awareness of the counseling profession in the general marketplace. The model assumes social and professional advocacy are complementary and outlines a process where use of each strengthens the other. An example of the model‟s application is offered with discussion regarding implications forits use.
Social Justice Work: It’s About Who We Are: An Interview with A. Michael Hutchins
Reflections of an Asian Woman Human Rights and Social Action Warrior
The roots of social justice: The personal journey of a human rights advocate
The Evolution of a Social Justice Counselor: Implications of Lessons Learned for Allies in the Field
Social Justice and Applied Psychology: Practical Ideas for Training the Next Generation of Psychologists
Even though many applied psychology programs embrace a philosophy of social justice, faculty members and trainers are often faced with the practical struggle of implementing a social justice training agenda. This article discusses both the theoretical and practical aspects of implementing a social justice training agenda in applied psychology programs.
Teaching Advocacy Counseling within a Social Justice Framework: Implications for School Counselors and Educators
The authors present a comprehensive view of advocacy counseling utilizing an original paradigm built upon the ideals that all clients should have equal access to goods and services and equal participation in programs and institutions. Relevant activities and a case study are included to highlight the importance of infusing advocacy in counselor training programs. Last, implications for school counselors and educators are provided.
Thwarting Ethnoviolence Against Muslim Women: Performing Identity in Social Action
This is a case study of campus-based activist research on multicultural diversity and tolerance in a college town in the Southeast after the destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers to decrease the post-9/11 hostility against Muslims, particularly women. As part of a Community Mental Health Consultation project at the University of Tennessee, the first author, a professor, assigned the second author, a foreign-born Muslim woman graduate student, to recruit and organize several Muslim women students from the Muslim Students Association. The students, performing their identity as Muslim women, conducted community workshops on Islam to promote knowledge and awareness of religious differences, and ethnic diversity and tolerance; and to reduce hostility against the Muslim community. This article includes web links to videos of their first workshop. We describe in detail the students collaborative intervention to address threats of gendered ethnoviolence as social action. A number of positive outcomes accompanied their empowering intervention, including the institution of the Ramadan Fast-a-Thon, now celebrated nationally at more than 230 colleges and universities. We conclude with implications for counseling and psychology for such collaborative intentional action in community interventions, given the harsh polarization around religious and cultural issues we struggle with today.
Voices from the Post-Katrina Ninth Ward: An Examination of Social Justice, Privilege, and Personal Growth
Wefive graduate-student counselors and one professorprovided social support to African- American residents in New Orleans post-Katrina Ninth Ward. We describe residents narratives, our reactions to our own privileges made salient, our personal growth, and post-Katrina social injustice. We then suggest ways for individuals to contribute to disaster relief/social justice.
Review of Derek Hook, Foucault, Psychology and the Analytics of Power
Two Psychologically Based Conflict Resolution Programs: Enemy Images and US and THEM
Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR) is an international network of professionals who use psychological research and skills to promote peace. Two programs have been developed by PsySR members to help achieve this goal. In 1989 PsySR developed a program aimed at reducing the threat of nuclear war between the two super powers. After the end of the Cold War, PsySR members developed another program that focused on smaller group conflict reduction. Since 9/11, both programs have been updated.
On Social Action in Counseling and Psychology: Visions for the Journal
Eating Disorders and Obesity as Social Justice Issues: Implications for Research and Practice
The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of considering eating disorders and obesity as social justice issues. Looking at systemic issues opens possibilities for new approaches to practice and research. By connecting at the root of eating issues, proposed as social justice, perhaps real change can occur.
La Mirada Psicosocial en un Contexto de Guerra Integral de Desgaste
Reflections on Lost Opportunities at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic: Lessons for Progressive Non-Profit Organizations
Discussions about healthcare policy frequently include the contention that, “Healthcare is a right not a privilege.” However, relatively few people know that phrase was made popular by the Free Clinic movement during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The Haight Ashbury Free Clinic (HAFC) in San Francisco was the flagship of the Free Clinic movement and has provided medical, addiction, and housing services to low income individuals for over 35 years. Rapidly after its inception in 1967, the clinic achieved notoriety for its innovative services to the community, particularly to those most in need. However, during the last decade the agency has suffered from severe financial problems, disorganization, and plummeting staff morale. News media reports during the past two years have described charges of embezzlement, lawsuits, counter lawsuits, and a flood of dedicated, skilled, and committed staff leaving in disgust. This paper presents an analysis of the decline of the HAFC, including key issues that were never adequately addressed and lost opportunities for promoting progressive healthcare. The paper closes with suggestions for other progressive non-profit organizations, which include increased efforts to garner public support for progressive healthcare and strategies for adapting to changing organizational and environmental circumstances.
Health Inequity and Social Injustice for the Aytas in the Philippines: Critical Psychology in Action
This article presents an example of a collaborative effort involving health psychologists, NGOs, and the local government that aims to understand health, material deprivation,and social inequity in an indigenous community in Floridablanca, Philippines. It adapts a participatory action research approach and uses literacy and empowerment to address emerging issues.
Mutual Support: Relating, Habit Work, Nurturing Being
Psychology needs coalition with “client/survivor” activism. Responsibility and wholesomeness of social support can replace activity managing behavior and objectifying ‘madness’. Social justice psychology should organize itself with mutual support and fight retraumatization agendas in the course of sustaining this collaboration.