Since its inception, counseling psychology has been at the forefront of advocating for social justice. The main aim of psychology and counseling is to reduce human suffering and promote human values, which can be done by promoting social justice. The rights, mission, ethics codes, and values of the American Psychological Association provide visible and systematic ways of applying their knowledge to social issues (DeBlaere et al., 2019). However, in dispensing their duties, counselors and human services managers face different challenges regarding social justice. This study will evaluate the different challenges and their respective solutions.
Mis-aligned organizational culture is a barrier for counselors and human service managers in promoting and advocating for social justice in organizations. Organizational culture includes the vision, values, and goals which guide an organization. In addition, the organizational culture provides a way of how people are expected to behave in an organization (Hald et al., 2020). While organizational social justice seeks fairness and equality in allocating resources and everyday social interactions, some organizational cultures may be discriminative. One method misaligned organizational culture can hinder social justice is the biased distribution of duties based on religion, race, gender, and physical/mental capabilities, without considering a person’s potential (Hald et al., 2020). Another type of poor organizational culture is procedural injustice in decision-making and allocation of resources. This is whereby decisions in an organization are made unfairly to favor some individuals. The third type of social injustice in plan organizational culture is where an organization promotes interpersonal communication where dignity and respect are not prioritized. These issues need to be solved to ensure that everyone in an organization is treated equally.
In most cases, a misaligned organizational culture is boosted by ineffective board members. Thus, their actions and decisions may hinder a counselor or human services manager from promoting social justice. This is because they make biased decisions, have biased allocation of resources, and thus will have biased and discriminatory methods to punish employees in an organization. However, the counselors or human services managers have an opportunity of promoting social justice within that organization through leadership, communication, and delegation (Hald et al., 2020). They can set a good example by promoting transparent communication and encouraging other employees to emulate them.
The other barrier which is likely to arise in the process of integrating social justice in the workplace is legal and ethical issues. Ethical dilemmas are very common in the workplace and challenge different potentially justifiable solutions in conflict. The main issues which can raise ethical dilemmas in an organization include intersecting issues, issues that have multiple solutions, personal bias, confidentiality safety, and professional dilemma (Igras et al., 2020). In solving ethical dilemmas, there is a need to use justice reasoning that employs rights and rules to determine the most justified result while considering the other person’s unique characteristics. Workplace dilemmas are increasing and becoming more complex to solve as the world becomes more diverse. Counselors or human services managers may face ethical dilemmas in maintaining appropriate professional boundaries and may be potential targets for exploitation. For example, the manager may suggest a person not qualified to be hired in a vacant position because the person is related to the manager. Therefore, the human services manager may be in a dilemma of hiring an incompetent person to please the boss or using the legal hiring process and risk having a rough relationship with the boss.
For a counselor or human services manager to avoid such ethical dilemmas in the workplace in the future, they should be guided by the six ethical standards of social work. These include service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relations, competence, and integrity (Igras et al., 2020). Service relates to the main goal of social work, which involves addressing social problems. The second principle states that counselors should challenge social injustices and inequalities. Third principle purposes that the counselor should respect the other person’s dignity, which includes making decisions that should not show disrespect to individuals. The counselor or human services manager should note the importance of human relationships and their boundaries to respond effectively when challenged. Regarding integrity and competence, counselors should be trustworthy, professional, and consistent to ensure they are not exploited. Thus, when the counselor or human services manager applies the six principles well, they are likely to promote social justice by providing distinct solutions for ethical work dilemmas.
The third challenge that a counselor or human services manager may face in promoting social justice in an organization is poor hiring tactics concerning people with disabilities, Equal Employment Act, and the LGBTQ community. The US is on the frontline of ensuring that every individual has an equal employment opportunity in a move to promote their economic status. However, there are still cases of discrimination in common workplaces. According to Global Equity Standard, 9.8% of people with disabilities in the US were likely to face employment discrimination in 2018 (García Johnson & Otto, 2019). This implies in every ten people with a disability, one is likely to face discrimination in the hiring process. Only 37% of people with disabilities between 18 -64 years were employed compared to the number of people without impairments, which is 77% (García Johnson & Otto, 2019). Other than people with disabilities, special interest groups such as the LGBTQ face significant hiring discrimination. A counselor or human services manager must fight for the rights of such individuals in the organization and ensure they are given equal employment opportunities.
The Equal Employment Act passed in 1972 addresses the issue of equal employment opportunity for all people regardless of their race, disability, religion, or sexual orientation. In addition, it provides that people should be paid fairly for jobs (García Johnson & Otto, 2019). The counselor or human services manager can respond to poor hiring tactics differently. They include crafting unbiased policies for the human resource to use in hiring, providing equal pay to employees, responding to discrimination complaints, keeping employment records, and displaying the discrimination laws (García Johnson & Otto, 2019). When well implemented, these strategies can be fruitful in ensuring social justice in the organization by eliminating discriminatory hiring processes.
The final factor which is likely to affect social justice in an organization or agency is limited or no education on the value of social justice. While many people know that social justice should be enhanced in an organization, they may not be aware of its value to their organization. This hinders organizations from practicing social justice, which is why education on the value of social education is essential (Igras et al., 2020). Social justice is important for an organization because it promotes fairness in the workplace. When employees feel they are treated fairly, they are more motivated and become more productive. In addition, when an organization adheres to social justice, they are likely to avoid legal battles and find itself on the right side of the law (Igras et al., 2020). This is because the government and consumers have become more reactive to issues regarding social injustices, and thus it can affect the reputation of the organization. Social justice enhances diversity in the workplace, which boosts diverse ideas; hence more innovation and productivity are likely to occur.
The counselor or human services manager can ensure adequate education in the agencies or organizations by providing lessons. This can be done by publishing articles in the organization’s magazines about the importance of social justice, holding seminars and webinars about the same topic, and enlightening the organizational leaders on the benefits of social justice. When the organizational leaders are aware of the benefits of social justice in an organization, they are more likely to embrace it.
While social justice has been highly embraced in the US, it is still an issue in society. Some organizations have not been able to embrace social justice because of different reasons. Counselors and human service managers are likely to face challenges advocating for social justice, such as having a misaligned organizational structure, poor hiring tactics, legal and ethical dilemmas, and a lack of adequate education on the importance of social justice. This study has provided effective solutions regarding the said barriers, which can be used to enhance social justice in organizations. When effectively implemented, they can help the counselor or human services manager to promote and advocate for social justice in their respective organizations.
References
DeBlaere, C., Singh, A. A., Wilcox, M. M., Cokley, K. O., Delgado-Romero, E. A., Scalise, D. A., & Shawahin, L. (2019). Social justice in counseling psychology: Then, now, and looking forward.The Counseling Psychologist, 47(6), 938–962. Web.
García Johnson, C. P., & Otto, K. (2019). Better together: A model for women and LGBTQ equality in the workplace.Frontiers in Psychology, 10(2). Web.
Hald, E. J., Gillespie, A., & Reader, T. W. (2020). Causal and corrective organizational culture: A systematic review of case studies of institutional failure.Journal of Business Ethics, 14(5). Web.
Igras, S., Kohli, A., Bukuluki, P., Cislaghi, B., Khan, S., & Tier, C. (2020). Bringing ethical thinking to social change initiatives: Why it matters.Global Public Health, 16(6), 882–894. Web.