Describe the history of how social justice counseling became the fifth force in counseling.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The increasing diversity of the U.S. influenced the counseling profession. Ratts, D’Andrea, and Arredondo (2004) proposed the concept of social justice, which changed how counseling had traditionally been practiced. In the 1970’s, various publications highlighted the need for counselors to use advocacy to address oppressive systemic barriers and advocate for social and political change. In the 1980’s, advocacy for the client shifted to advocacy for the profession. Reasons included an increase in managed care industries, the psychiatry profession indicating what is considered mental health problems, and the rise in education administrators determining the role of professional counselors. In the 1990’s, there was a shift back to encouraging counselors to be social change agents. During this time it was also brought to the attention of the profession that multicultural competence was limiting if social justice was not also focused on as well. It was believed that because so many culturally diverse clients are often oppressed and bring issues to therapy that are systemically based. In the early 2000’s, professional counselors began to see the social justice perspective more legitimized and integrated in counseling with the development of a variety of task forces, new divisions added to the ACA, and publications emphasizing social justice.