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Article Excerpt
There is a growing movement calling on counselors to implement social justice advocacy strategies and interventions into counseling practices (Kiselica & Robinson, 2001; Ratts, D'Andrea, & Arredondo, 2004; Toporek, Gerstein, Fouad, Roysircar, & Israel, 2006). Calls for counseling professionals to be change agents and advocates for social justice are reflected in the school counseling (Bemak & Chung, 2005; House, 2004; Stone & Dahir, 2006), critical psychology (Fox & Prilleltensky, 1997; Prilleltensky & Nelson, 1997; Prilleltensky & Prilleltensky, 2003), and feminist and multicultural counseling literature (Goodman et al., 2004). The need to make social justice advocacy a clearer presence in the field, and reconnect the profession with its roots, is primarily fueled by a desire to more adequately address systems of oppression that negatively affect client/student development (Lee, 2007). The belief is that helping professionals can no longer operate solely from the comfort of their offices if they wish to better serve their constituencies. This perspective is echoed by Goodman et al. (2004), who added that "unless fundamental change occurs within our neighborhoods, schools, media, culture, and religious, political, and social institutions, our work with individuals is destined to be, at best, only partially successful" (p. 797). For this reason, counselors need to expand their roles to include social justice advocacy (Lee & Walz, 1998). This may be accomplished by using the ACA (American Counseling Association) Advocacy Competencies (Lewis, Arnold, House, & Toporek, 2002) as a framework for executing social justice advocacy strategies (Ratts, DeKruyf, & Chen-Hayes, 2007).
As part of this special section, this article provides a conceptual framework for how the client/student level of the Advocacy Competencies can meet the growing demand for counselors to be change agents and advocates for "a just and humane world" (Seattle University, n.d., para. 1). Specifically, this article illustrates the importance of the Advocacy Competencies, provides an overview of the three levels inherent within the Advocacy Competencies, and demonstrates how to operationalize the client/student level of the Advocacy Competencies. Implications for the profession are also discussed.
Rationale
Several reasons exist regarding the need to infuse the Advocacy Competencies into counseling practice. One reason is related to the prevalence of oppression in society and the negative impact it has on human development. To illustrate, Jacobs (1994) asserted that environmental factors such as generational poverty can often lead to increased depression, low self-esteem, and a lack of educational and career opportunities. Similarly, House and Martin (1998) have attributed oppressive social, political, and economic conditions to poor academic achievement for students of color and students from low-income families in K--12 schools. These kinds of inequities signify the need for counseling professionals to make a more concerted effort at addressing environmental factors that serve as barriers to academic, career, and personal/social development.
Second, use of the Advocacy Competencies seems critical given Prilleltensky's (1994) argument that the counseling profession has a tendency to "attribute excessive weight to individual factors, such as genetic or psychological constitution, in explaining individual and/or social behavior" (p. 39). Relying solely on direct counseling to address client/student problems, while minimizing the influence of the social milieu, may be limiting at best. The rationale is that sometimes it is the system that needs to change and not the individual (Goodman et al., 2004). The need for counseling professionals to include advocacy in their work is especially important in light of Hardiman and Jackson's (1982) assertion that oppression manifests itself at the individual (e.g., stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination), social/cultural (e.g., societal norms and values), and institutional levels (e.g., rules and policies). The Advocacy Competencies speak to this concern because they encourage counselors to use counseling interventions and strategies that take place on multiple levels (Rubel & Ratts, 2007).
Third, despite the need for counselors to operate from a social justice advocacy paradigm, the counseling profession has failed to bring clarity on how to put social justice into practice (Field & Baker, 2004; Nilsson & Schmidt, 2005). Up to this point, social justice has been a rather abstract, philosophical, and theoretical concept in the counseling literature. The Advocacy Competencies have been instrumental in moving the social justice advocacy movement forward (Ratts, 2006). Development of the Advocacy Competencies is timely because they offer counselors a tangible framework to implement social justice advocacy strategies. Moreover, the Advocacy Competencies offer counselors a means for determining when certain situations call for direct interventions, advocacy with or on behalf of an individual, and when interventions call for microlevel and macrolevel approaches. Interventions that focus on both direct and indirect care are important because they acknowledge the complex interplay between individuals and their environment.
Advocacy Competencies
The Advocacy Competencies include three levels of advocacy: client/student, school/community, and public arena (Lewis et al., 2002). Each level of advocacy contains two domains that emphasize advocacy with and advocacy on behalf of an individual. The client/student level of advocacy involves using direct counseling to empower individuals and providing advocacy at the individual level. The school/community level of advocacy emphasizes community collaboration and systems advocacy. The public arena level of advocacy is concerned with informing the public about systemic barriers that affect human development and how helping professionals can shape public policy. It is also important to mention that working within one level of the Advocacy Competencies will often require counselors to engage in other levels of advocacy.
Client/Student Level of Advocacy
The client/student advocacy level occurs on an individual scale. This level of advocacy includes the client/student empowerment and client/student advocacy domains. At this level, counselors...
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