Counseling and Social Justice

Abstract

Throughout the history of counseling there has been a continuous, yet fluctuating, thread of social justice. Frank Parsons is often noted as one of the earliest and most visible social justice advocates, as he worked in the early 1900s to provide services to homeless and jobless individuals, challenged the structure of distribution of resources, and designed systems of service that focused on strength and community Counseling historians also note the work of Clifford Beers, who is attributed with taking social action to challenge mental health hospitalization policies, bringing attention to the rights of individuals diagnosed with mental illness (see Kiselica & Robinson, 2001). The fields of counseling and counseling psychology have also been moved by the many scholar‐activists who have worked on establishing guidelines for working with populations who have historically been denied appropriate services and rights, including women, people of color, sexual minorities, people with disabilities, religious minorities, economically poor individuals, and others. Multicultural counseling, feminist counseling, prevention counseling, and community counseling have all made important contributions to this discourse. Significant social justice work has arisen from these efforts as the process of developing guidelines has acknowledged the systemic oppression faced by these groups. This is often accompanied by the assertion that the responsibility of counselors and psychologists is to acknowledge and challenge this imbalance of rights and resources. This assertion is not without debate.