The progressive heritage of guidance: a view from the left

Abstract

As one part of a larger progressive movement, the guidance and counseling movement has typically supported progressive programs in the schools and in society as a whole. While most counselors point with pride to such a progressive heritage, a case can be made that the effect of progressivism is to prop up existing structures and resist fundamental change in societal institutions. In this article the author discusses four ideals that are commonly held by the progressive and the counseling movements, pointing out some of the destructive effects these ideals have on societal change efforts. The four ideals discussed are: (a) an emphasis on access to opportunity (pluralism), (b) an emphasis on pragmatism, (c) an emphasis on adjustment, and (d) an emphasis on individualism.

Humanism as Repression: Counselors Training Police

“…Programs that profess to be humanistic or progressive sometimes ignore certain larger societal questions and thereby actually harm more than help the cause of human liberation (Adams, 1973). In the matter of using human relations training with police, such a situation exists.…”

The Elderly, Oppression, and Social‐Change Counseling

“…Such an approach to counseling would mandate that counselors work to change the system rather than the client. Many authors since 1970 have proposed the implementation of a social-change approach to counseling to supplement and in some cases supplant the more traditional personal-change approach (Adams, 1973;Atkinson, Morten, & Sue, 1979;Baker & Cramer, 1972;Banks & Martens, 1973;Ciavarella & Doolittle, 1970;Cook, 1972;Drew, 1973;Dustin, 1973;Dworkin & Dworkin, 1971;Lewis & Lewis, 1977;Manacker, 1976;Pine, 1976;Warnath, 1973).…”

Ratings of helper roles by multicultural psychologists and Asian American students: Initial support for the three-dimensional model of multicultural counseling.

“…The rationale for unconventional counseling roles is that conventional roles assume that problems reside within individual clients, whereas many problems confronted by diverse populations are a function of their environment, not some internal psychological mechanism (Katz, 1985; Smith, 1985). A spate of articles in the early 1970s (e.g., Adams, 1973; Baker & Cramer, 1972; Banks & Martens, 1973; Ciavarella & Doolittle, 1970; Cook, 1972; Warnath, 1973) called on counselors and psychologists to implement the proactive roles of social advocate and social change agent, for example, when working with disfranchised groups. Although little research has been conducted on unconventional counseling roles, some support for the social advocate and change agent roles has been found among high school students, parents, administrators, teachers, and counselors (Atkinson et al, 1977).…”