Social Justice Counseling Definition

The twelfth chapter of Sue and Sue’s Counseling the Culturally Diverse Theory and Practice (2008), focuses on social justice counseling and therapy. Sue and Sue state that there are seven fundamental components of social justice counseling. The first principle places emphasis on the locus of the problem existing outside of the client and in the client’s environment and community instead. While other perspectives tend to place the individual at the center of the issue, social justice counseling helps the individual understand how his or her environment, and the oppressive forces within it, are the cause of their distress. The second principle places its emphasis on the individual’s interactions with society and family as indicators of proper …show more content…
For example, the implications for an internal and external locus of control. Sue and Sue discuss how ethnic minorities, woman, and people with low socioeconomic status are typically have higher on external locus of control. Conversely, White men typically are privileged with having a high internal locus of control. Therapists who confront people who are higher on external locus of control commonly pathologize such a trait and attribute it to the individual. Through discussing the principles of social justice counseling, it is apparent that this approach is flawed and dangerous to the client. Therapists must acknowledge that an external locus of control is often traceable back to societal oppression by systems of institutions. Rather than telling the client he or she has control issues, it is better to show the client how society has conditioned them to believe that they don’t have control, and that the control is only given to White men in most cases. This could be especially difficult for therapists who are White men to accept this notion and acknowledge how their own oppression is affecting society and the minorities, women, and low socioeconomic status individuals within …show more content…
The first stage is cultural destructiveness, which is characterized by oppression of culturally diverse people. Such examples of this are seen with the recurrently referenced Tuskegee experiments and Nazi-sponsored medical experiments. The second stage is cultural incapacity, which is characterized by covert or unintentional oppression and marginalization of culturally diverse people. This stage is laden with bias, prejudice, discrimination, and racism. The third stage is cultural blindness, which is characterized by a belief in ethnocentrism that ignores the perspectives, strengths, and individual differences of people from other racial, or ethnic, backgrounds. There is also a great deal of oppression and discrimination associated with this stage. The fourth stage is cultural precompetence, which is characterized by a slight inclination to enact change for a more diverse, inclusive, and equal environment. With that being said, efforts are minimal and often are plagued with shortcomings that undermine the cause of inclusion initially attempted. The fifth stage is cultural competence, which is characterized by an understanding of the importance of diversifying all levels of the agency and progression to wards complete equality and inclusion of all cultures. This includes initiatives to target oppressive beliefs and