The Role of Counselors as Social Justice Advocates
Part 1
Locus of control was developed by Julian Rotter, who believed that it was a prerequisite for counselors to have a clear understanding of how the counseling process could be affected by world views and Locus of control (Aspelmeier et al., 2012). Locus of control holds that how a person views the world would be informed by reinforcements that emanate from outside sources. As such, a person may not have control over such reinforcements. In other words, the worldview of an individual would be based on the behavior, morals, and values they would gain through external reinforcement. This then implies that how a person relates to the world depends on their worldviews and understanding of dominant world perceptions. The relationship between an individual and the world would come in the form of religious practices, cultural beliefs, and personal worldviews (Aspelmeier et al., 2012). Such aspects would largely determine the approaches that would be applied by a counselor as they discharge their professional counseling services.
Based on the self-assessment, I got to learn that I have an internal locus of control. I thus have the belief that I am always in full control of my actions and behaviors, irrespective of whether they might be negative or positive. One of the major advantages I enjoy from having an internal locus of control is that I can maximally benefit from online learning, given that I do not have to be physically present during lessons because I am self-motivated. On the flip side, having an internal locus of control makes me feel stressed, especially when I fail to work within a given deadline or when I feel that everyone is on my neck for assistance, especially such assistance as caring for children or financial assistance (Aspelmeier et al., 2012). I intend to effectively balance the effects of the internal Locus of control through yoga, meditation, and other exercise of relaxation/breathing.
Part 2
As a multifaceted approach to counseling, the aim of the social justice aspect is to promote the common good of humans and their development. In this regard, counselors should strive to address distributive justice and individual challenges. In discharging their counseling duties, counselors should empower their clients by making them aware of the social injustices and evils that all society. They should ensure that the counseling strategies they apply are geared towards actively confronting societal inequality and injustice. This is because their clientele would be hugely impacted by the counseling strategies and interventions they put to use in their counseling sessions. In so doing, counselors would be promoting four principles that are critical to social justice promotion. These principles include harmony, participation, access, and equity. The tackling of social justice promotion would require counselors to lay their focus on the individual, contextual, and cultural needs of their clients (Dimmitt & Wilkerson, 2012).
One of the advocacy strategies to promote social justice for diverse populations at both the individual and group levels would be to educate the most affected communities about the existent laws and the manner in which they may keep within the laws by modifying, adapting, or altering some of their practices (Martin & Carey, 2012). For instance, in the case study, the core families need to appreciate that it would not be possible to stay together always as the tenancy rules would not allow that. Another strategy would be to educate the entire mainstream society that they should learn to appreciate the practices they consider strange from other communities. This is because some of these practices are cultural and historical and not abusive. Counselors should also use the media to educate individuals, families, and couples from diverse populations and the entire society about how diversity contributes positively to society in terms of building intercultural communities that are peaceful. In doing this, counselors should collaborate and partner with spiritual and community leaders.
The characteristics and concerns of refugees, both nationally and internationally, would vary based on their cultural and religious backgrounds. Generally, however, refugees would always want to be allowed to exercise their cultural and religious practices wherever they are in the world, whether in their home country or seeking refuge in another part of the world. Their way of life would always feel threatened by the change of environment. It thus becomes the responsibility of counselors to ensure that their counseling strategies identify and consider such concerns and characteristics. For instance, when working with Muslim refugees, counselors would need to understand the following issues: Muslims fancy dining together, Muslim extended families live together in the same house, and Muslims like living near “halal” markets and mosques (Maloof & Ross-Sheriff, 2003). Such policies as homeland security, occupancy policy, and religious and cultural practice policies would need to be considered (Sydnor, 2011).
In the United States of America, immigration has been historically politically considered an enemy of the American economy and the native people of America. Economists and politicians opposed to immigration in the country argue that as much as the U.S. economy becomes larger due to immigration, native-born Americans do not benefit from this fact (Daly, 2013). According to them, immigration only caters to the welfare of the immigrants themselves. They hold that the income of natives or the per-capita income of the country never gets substantially increased by immigration. In terms of the fiscal impact, immigration is deemed to earn the government both fiscal benefit and fiscal drain. The explanation here is that the government suffers a net fiscal drain from immigrants who are of low income and are less educated. On the same note, the government gains net fiscal benefits from immigrants who are of higher incomes and are more educated. Therefore, the net argument is that immigration causes poverty and interferes with the welfare of Native Americans.
According to Martin & Carey (2012), one of the advocacy processes that would address institutional racism and social barriers that affect diverse populations is interpersonal capacity and collaboration. This process identifies and appreciates the fact that on their own, counselors would be less efficient in addressing institutional racism and social barriers. They would thus need to initiate both informal and formal discussions about social barriers and institutional racism with their workmates and the organizational members of their employing organization. They would need to hold the discussions in such a way that they would be responding to specific attitudes, behaviors, practices, and policies that promote institutional racism. Another advocacy process in this respect would be to focus on social policy, community, and the client. Counselors would first need to understand the extent to which their clients are affected by racism and social barriers. They would need to speak against the social policies that benefit others while disadvantaging other communities.
As a counselor, my role in the reduction of biases, prejudices, and discrimination is to ensure that the cultural values of the client are not overridden by my own cultural biases and values (American School Counselor Association, 2012). This is the requirement of counseling professional ethics. I would also need to make all the clients I handle to realize the essence of appreciating diversity and living in harmony with all human beings regardless of their ethnic, racial, or religious affiliations. I would do this through the counseling strategies I would apply in my practice. As a counselor, I would also have to work in close partnership and collaboration with other stakeholders in society in devising strategies for tackling social injustices. I would do this in light of the need for inclusiveness in addressing societal evils that encourage discrimination and prejudices. Some of the people I would work with in this respect would include school administrators, parents, and other societal leaders.
A strategy that I would employ in promoting social justice at the micro level would be to help the client to become empowered. In doing this, I would involve the client in developing strategies through which they may address social barriers after we have named the oppression or barrier. I would also help the client develop the necessary skills of self-advocacy that would help them in dealing with social injustices. At the meso level, I would apply the strategy of Community Collaboration. I would involve the school or community in addressing some of the barriers and oppressions that the community faces. Finally, at the macro level, I would work in liaison with other interested parties or quotas in opposing oppressive policies or in advocating for the right interpretation of policies so that in their formulation, the policies would not culminate into social injustice (Martin & Carey, 2012).
References
American School Counselor Association. (2012). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
Aspelmeier, J., et al. (2012). Self-esteem, Locus of Control, College Adjustment, and GPA Among First- and Continuing-Generation Students: A Moderator Model of Generational Status. Research in Higher Education, 53(7), 755-781.
Daly, S. (2013). Bordering On Discrimination: Effects of Immigration Policies/Legislation on Indigenous Peoples in the United States and Mexico. American Indian Law Review, 38(1), 157-186.
Dimmitt, C., & Wilkerson, B. (2012). Comprehensive School Counseling in Rhode Island: Access to Services and Student Outcomes. Professional School Counseling, 16(2), 125- 135.
Maloof, P. & Ross-Sheriff, F. (2003). Muslim Refugees in the United States: A Guide for Service Providers (1st ed., pp. 1-56). Washington DC: The Center for Applied Linguistics. Retrieved from https://ccas.georgetown.edu/sites/ccas/files/Muslim%20Refugees%20in %20the%20United%20States.pdf
Martin, I., & Carey, J. (2012). Evaluation Capacity within State-Level School Counseling Programs: A Cross-Case Analysis. Professional School Counseling, 15(3), 132-143.
Sydnor, P. (2011). Understanding the Forced Displacement of Refugees in Terms of the Person. Transformation, 28(1), 51-61.
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Question 
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper on social justice in nursing. Address the following in your paper:
In your own words, explain what social justice is and why it is a core tenant of nursing.
The Role of Counselors as Social Justice Advocates
Describe the responsibility of the nursing profession in advocating for social justice.
As an advanced practice nurse, describe how you will advocate for social justice.
Provide 2 examples of social injustices and how they can impact a person’s or a population’s health. Consider the core competencies in AACN Essentials and identify the appropriate competencies that would address the above injustices.