Social Change, Leadership and Advocacy Applied essay

SocialChange, Leadership and Advocacy Applied

SocialChange, Leadership and Advocacy Applied

Thehuman service professionals are responsible for both the professionand the society. It is their duty to lead and advocate for socialchange. They not only have to take action on social issues, but alsoto take their stand on professions as well as other issues. Theirduties are to support efforts to empower communities, engage inadvocacy and emphasize social agenda. However, these activities arefaced with many challenges. This paper discusses the issue of socialchange, leadership and advocacy application, the actions that can betaken in addressing the issue and the challenges faced in takingthese actions.

Descriptionof the issue Social change is described as any significantshift in cultural values, behavior patterns and cultural norms. Thechanges must be significant enough to yield quantifiable socialconsequences (Chetkovich, 2006). An example of a social change is thepromotion of poverty eradication among underprivileged groups. Humanservice professionals have to inspire members of the society who arediscontented, so that social change can be realized (Cohen, 2003).

Implementationprocess and challenges faced The actions to be taken that leadto and advocate for social change include inspecting the causes andpatterns, backing the fund from grant-makers, and to activelyparticipate in influencing local or regional policies (Ospina, &ampFoldy, 2010). However, taking these actions may have certainchallenges. In many regions, getting support for issues that arecontroversial or areas that are not popular may not be easy. This isbecause grant-makers are more inclined to issues that are related toyouths, children and families (Lewis, Ratts, Paladino, &amp Toporek,2011).

Addressingthe Challenges The challenges can be addressed by doingcivic education on the importance of supporting societal issues otherthan children, youth and family concerns. When grant-makers learnabout the need to support issues to do with social change, it maybecome easier to obtain their support whenever there is a need. As aresult, applying social change leadership and advocacy becomes easier(Cohen, 2003).

References

Chetkovich,C. A. (2006). From the ground up: Grassroots organizations makingsocial change. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press.

Cohen,Rick. (2003).Advocacy for Social Change In Metropolitan Washington.National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.

Lewis,J.A., Ratts, M.J., Paladino, D.A. &amp Toporek, R.L. (2011). SocialJustice Counseling and Advocacy: Developing New Leadership Roles andCompetencies. Journalfor Social Action in Counseling and Psychology,3(1).

Ospina,S. &amp Foldy, E. (2010). Building bridges from the margins: Thework of leadership in social change organizations. The LeadershipQuarterly, 21(2), 292-307.