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ADVOCACY
Matt: Advocacy for those in our care is an important factor in all fields of behavioral health, but many people think of it being especially so in social work. I’m a counselor, but try to keep my hand in advocacy for both my profession and for broader mental health policy concerns as well. I’m a fan of the emerging “citizen therapist” model and think training programs in all fields might do well to adopt coursework in that vein. What special things about advocacy can social work teach those of us who are not representatives of the discipline?
Eric: For those who do not regularly operate within the world of advocacy in social work, it might be tough for some people to see the importance of this type of work. I sometimes hear the term social justice warrior/SJW used pejoratively to describe social workers by people who don’t understand the importance of social justice. Inherent within the human experience is being part of various groups like gender, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status (SES), etc. There are groups of people who tend to experience neglect, discrimination, abuse, oppression, and other things of the like more than those of other groups, and no person or group should ever be stuck in a perpetual state of receiving comparatively less justice than others. This is where policy advocacy from social workers is crucial, as it allows justice to be experienced by those who were once only seeing it from the outside, as spectators looking in on a just world that exists for some groups and not others.
I tend to mainly focus on policy advocacy for SMI, but SMI intersects with criminal justice, race, gender, sex, SES, and every other issue. As people realize and understand how irrevocably connected we all are, even if we all belong to different socially constructed groups, it becomes more possible to better meet individual and societal needs for all. This is not intended as a statement of political ideology but as a fact of what humanity can accomplish when working together to bring out the best in one another.
More of Eric's writing may be found at the link below:
Assisted Outpatient Treatment: A Blueprint to Freedom
Information on the American Psychological Association's Citizen Psychologist Initiative can be found at this link.
References
Crumb, L., Haskins, N., & Brown, S. (2019). Integrating Social Justice Advocacy into Mental Health Counseling in Rural, Impoverished American Communities. Professional Counselor, 9(1), 20–34.
Culyba, A. J., & Patton, W. W. (2016). A Legislative Case Study of the Evolution of Polyvictimization Research and Policy Implementation: Mental Health Professionals’ Duty to Engage in Public Policy Advocacy. William & Mary Policy Review, 8(1), 1–ii.
Marshall-Lee, E. D., Hinger, C., Popovic, R., Miller Roberts, T. C., & Prempeh, L. (2020). Social justice advocacy in mental health services: Consumer, community, training, and policy perspectives. Psychological Services, 17(S1), 12–21. https://doi-org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.1037/ser0000349
