Joseph M. Williams

Ecological Psychology: Potential Contributions to Social Justice and Advocacy in School Settings

Inequities and disparities of various forms exist in public schools that significantly impact the academic success and healthy development of many students. The detrimental effects of social injustices within schools are often ignored by school-based professionals (SBPs) because an entrenched intrapsychic perspective dominates the professional discourse. In this article we explain how the medical model, and its discursive articulation in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), discourages SBPs from engaging in social justice advocacy in school settings. Next, we describe the ecological paradigm necessary for assessing and treating environmental-based problems within the ecosystem of students. We then argue that ecological psychology provides SBPs with a professional discourse that frames the need for social justice advocacy and action. Finally, we provide specific ways in which SBPs can become knowledgeable and empowered advocates both with and on behalf of K–12 students and their families.

Academically Resilient, Low-Income Students' Perspectives of How School Counselors Can Meet Their Academic Needs

This phenomenological, qualitative study examined a national sample of academically resilient, low-income middle school students’ (N = 24) perspectives of what school counselors can do to promote their academic achievement. Three main themes and nine subthemes were identified: build meaningful relationships, build on the cultural wealth of students, and provide mental health services in schools. This article discusses implications for school counselor practice and future research.

Decolonizing Traditional Pedagogies and Practices in Counseling and Psychology Education: A Move Towards Social Justice and Action

While numerous scholars in the fields of counseling and psychology have called for the implementation of social justice counselor education and training, there remains concern that both multiculturalism and social justice are only embraced superficially and may not truly be enacted in counseling and psychology training programs. Often, counseling and psychology education programs include multiculturalism, diversity, and even social justice in their mission statements, but they fail to offer their students the depth and breadth of training experiences required to actually provide such an education. For instance, most programs have one course that addresses multiculturalism, but this concept is only occasionally mentioned in other courses and social justice is rarely discussed at all. This gives the false impression that counseling and psychology education programs are addressing diversity, when in actuality these programs are not preparing students to practice in ways that attend to the unique experiences of the diverse clients they will serve or to address to the complex ways in which social injustice manifests in the lives of clients, particularly those from marginalized social groups. Further, since multiculturalism and social justice have become popularized in the counseling and psychology lexicon, we now see regular attempts within counseling and psychology education programs to actualize these concepts, but in ways that are often superficial and simply reinforce the status quo.

Photovoice as a Teaching Tool for Client/Student Advocacy

ABSTRACT Despite the growing literature on integrating social justice principles and training into counseling preparation programs, few studies provide evaluative data on the effectiveness of social justice training practices. This article describes an innovative instructional strategy—Photovoice—for teaching counseling students client/student advocacy and presents the results of a brief, open-ended classroom evaluation. Findings indicated increased critical awareness, commitment to social action, and advocacy skills among counseling students (N = 30). Counselor training implications are discussed.

Perceived Teacher Discrimination and Academic Achievement Among Urban Caribbean Black and African American Youth: School Bonding and Family Support as Protective Factors

This study examined the relations of perceived teacher discrimination, school bonding, and family support to academic achievement among 1,122 urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents....

Challenges in Promoting Race Dialogues in Psychology Training: Race and Gender Perspectives:

Given today’s racial diversity and the ongoing racial tensions in our communities as a result of police shootings of unarmed Black men, terrorist acts in the United States and globally, and expressions of racism and xenophobia in the political arena, it is essential for psychologists to be culturally competent. Four diverse faculty members engaged in a self-study of their multicultural teaching practices to explore the challenges inherent in participating in authentic race dialogues. In this article, we discuss the findings from our independent and collective analysis of faculty narratives and provide recommendations for facilitating honest and courageous race dialogues in graduate psychology training.

Who's to blame? Client Problems and the Causal Attributions Made by Counselors-in- training

The researchers examined the relationship between cognitive complexity, attribution styles, and demographic variables of 86 counselors-in-training concerning the cause of and solution to clients’ problems. A significant relationship was found between counselors’ moral attribution styles and cognitive complexity levels. Differences were found in general preferences for specific attribution styles for the counselors studied as well as by training level. Implications of the findings for counselor preparation and training are discussed.