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Social Change, Leadership, And Advocacy
Level: Doctoral
Sociology - Human Services
There are three concepts related to the counselling profession and those professions related to human services. These concepts deal with the matters of social change, leadership, and advocacy. Social change is very much to do with addressing the unfairness of living in a society, but is not limited to injustice alone. Leadership is about being the person to facilitate change both in a social as well as professional capacity, whilst advocacy supports and promotes these changes.
As human services professionals, educators and counsellors, it is important to understand these concepts fully and build an awareness of how they are different, but also how they are alike. Leadership is about guiding decision making and creating a supportive environment in which people can discuss social issues in a constructive and managed way[footnoteRef:1]. Discussion should be promoted and given direction so that it remains relevant and purposeful. Discussion should be strategized so that it is geared towards a positive outcome and remains meaningful. Leadership is about support, guidance, and respect. A leader should be considered to be a person...
In this way they will be able to encourage others to think about changes and implement them successfully. [1: http://www.revenuejournal.com/2010/01/top_10_characteristics_of_an_e.php]
A leader should be prepared to listen, to be subservient at times and be seen to take advice[footnoteRef:2]. They must be able to make decisions and to inform others about their decisions. Communication is a key trait for a successful and effective leader in whatever role, but it is especially important in the role of a counsellor. Lots of different issues may be encountered as a counsellor or an educator when trying to lead. Strong characters that have their own agendas may attempt to redirect discussion or inhibit change. Other external constraints can also impact the effectiveness of leadership, such as finances, the imposition of new guidelines and/or a group's resistance to new ideas, changes or developments. Being able to effectively manage all of these is a challenge in itself. [2: http://www.revenuejournal.com/2010/01/top_10_characteristics_of_an_e.php]
Advocacy has a strong role to play in the ability to counsel or lead. Providing a forum where people can…
Advocacy has a strong role to play in the ability to counsel or lead. Providing a forum where people can be heard or listened to supports the smooth transition towards social change. Being able to resolve conflict and manage dispute effectively is essential[footnoteRef:3]. Advocacy allows marginalized groups to speak and be heard so that a broader collection of people can be represented. In this way social change and social justice can not only be seen but experienced by all those involved. The true meaning of advocacy is to plead the cause of another individual's plight and to represent them to all those that can influence that individual's (or group's) life[footnoteRef:4]. Advocating for another can facilitate fairer social change in a broader context, because those that are marginalized or exist on the outskirts of society are brought forward and integrated so that any change that occurs in brought about with these people in mind. [3: http://grjsite.com/attachments/article/31/K.%20Santos%20Advocacy%20Supervision.pdf] [4: http://grjsite.com/attachments/article/31/K.%20Santos%20Advocacy%20Supervision.pdf]
Social change may be considered similar to leadership and to advocacy in the sense that it is an advancement on what is the current social situation. Both advocacy and leadership direct this change and support it and so in this way, all three concepts work in harmony. Conversely though they can work against one another if the social change that is needed is not what society is being led towards and what the leader supports. Advocating for those that are in need of change does not necessarily mean that those agencies that can facilitate these changes will listen, and act. Social change may equally be brought about by the people rather than the agencies that lead them in the case of a revolt or uprising.
What these comparisons show us is that social change is not an event that can occur spontaneously without leadership or advocacy, but it can occur aided by only one. Perhaps the most positive, fair, and holistic social change can only be brought about if the views and feelings of all are considered and to do this, both leadership and advocacy must work in tandem.
Social Change, Leadership, And Advocacy Applied The objective of this work is to identify at least one professional or societal problem or issue that concerns you and that would benefit from social change, leadership, and advocacy and explain why it is worthy of such efforts. This work will describe a manageable social change, leadership or advocacy goal related to the issue of domestic violence. This work will explain how and why
Social Justice Improving social justice for women has been identified as one of the building blocks of social change. Population control, education, and the eradication of domestic violence are all interlinked. "UNICEF estimates that worldwide, some 117 million school-aged children do not attend school, 62 million of them girls. Attendance rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 57% of girls are in school, and just 15% of these go on
Social equity is a key issue of public administration and forms the basic theme of the 2013 "Social Equity Leadership Conference," in June. This white paper discusses the key goals of the conference based on the conference issue for social equity as global engagement and local responsibility. These are the issue facing social equity among domestic and global public leaders in public and private agencies in the education, immigration,
Social Change Resource for TeachersProfessional Development Resource List: Understanding Social Change and Becoming Agents of ChangeWhat is Social Change?Social change refers to the transformation of cultural, social, and political structures, patterns, and behaviors over time. It is a process meant to bring about the betterment of society by addressing issues like inequality, injustice, and more (Yob, 2018). Colleges, universities, and many high schools are now expressing their mission in terms
Advocacy From the Margins: Identifying Opportunities to Facilitate Social Services Delivery to the Disadvantaged Across North America, women account for slightly more of the population than men, yet their earnings and opportunities for career advancement remain far less than their male counterparts. Certainly, some of these disparities are based on biological reasons involving the need for women to care for young children, but many other gender-based factors that marginalize women are
Social Advocacy in Counseling Social advocacy has been described by some counseling theorists as a "fifth force" paradigm that should be considered to rival if not replace other major counseling psychology paradigms regarding behavior and mental illness (Ratts, 2009). This paper briefly discusses what social justice/advocacy is, the debate regarding its status as a paradigm in counseling psychology, and how social advocacy can enhance both the client's experience and life and