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Reflection Paper: Working With Marginalized Communities Marlena Echols Walden University

Reflection Paper: Working With Marginalized Communities In today’s society, there are many factors that can influence career development for marginalized populations of individuals. Populations of marginalized groups consist of the LGBTQ community, black men, individuals that are living in poverty/low-income households, and so many more. For those in the LGBTQ community, obtaining decent work with decent pay can be a struggle because a lot of employers don’t like to or either refuse to hire employees that are living out of cultural or moral norms. Black men also face the issue of finding work, mainly because they are constantly trying to have to meet up with the standards that white men hold in the work place or by breaking through almost a “glass ceiling” by living up to their standards and breaking past the negative outlooks and stereotypes they have been given by society. For poverty driven or low-income individuals, finding decent work with decent pay is an issue for many reasons, such as not having the proper resources, opportunities, or education that is needed for gaining decent employment. As a career counselor, it is important to advocate for these individuals that are stuck in these marginalized groups, without advocation their success rate for finding decent employment that allows the individual to feel fulfilled, while making decent pay as well, is very low. After getting to know each client on a personal level, it becomes easier to apply a career theory to their situation, which makes it easier to help that client fulfill their needs. When applying a theory, it is important to remember to gain as much knowledge about the client’s life and future goals as possible, in order to make sure that the theory aligns with who the client is and will help them achieve. Throughout this paper, I will discuss how the marginalized group of poverty driven or low-income individuals can be advocated for in order to hopefully help them gain the resources and tools they will need to obtain decent employment that fulfills their desires. 2

Advocacy Statement As a counselor, you will consistently meet people from different backgrounds than your own, therefore you will encounter a large sum of diversity. It is important for a counselor to always be open-minded and non-judgmental to our clients that have different beliefs and values than our own. If we are not open-minded to the diversity we come across, then it is almost impossible to advocate for these clients. However, by being open-minded and understanding to our clients’ values, beliefs and future goals, it is much easier to help advocate for them. By advocating for those living in poverty who are seeking decent work, it is important to first understand the who the individual is as a person, as well as their beliefs, values and what they are seeking in a future career. Most of the time, these individuals have never had proper education, the opportunities, or resources that other individual’s have gained in the past that has helped them get to where they are today. Therefore, the goal of advocating for these individuals living in poverty is to give them access to the same resources, tools and opportunities that they also need to obtain a suitable career. People living in poverty are in little community around the world. Just in the United States alone, there is an estimated 37.9 million people living in poverty, while global poverty is estimated to be 44 million people. Reaching this marginalized group just in my own community would be quite easy just by physically going out and involving myself in community activities and functions that are put together for advocating, however reaching them at a meso and macro levels would require using extended resources, like social media, which would probably be option I would use being that it is the most easily accessible and such a worldwide used resource. Though there is a large quantity of people in the U.S. that live in poverty, we also have people from different countries that come here for a better life and living and unfortunately end up in the same situation. A strong need remains to serve 3

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minoritized populations and other marginalized individuals, including immigrants, many who are undocumented and face uncertain futures due to a range of sociopolitical factors (Fickling, Lancaster, & Neal; 2018; George Mwangi, Latafat, Thampikutty & Julie, 2019; Munzo & Vigil, 2018). I take my commitment to those of you in this marginalized group very seriously. My goal is to help you obtain the employment that not only fulfills your desired pay, but that also makes you feel needed in the community and gives you a sense of self accomplishment, and therefore I will advocate for you in any way that I can until we reach those goals. Culturally Sensitive Career Counseling My goal in the future is to be an addictions counselor and work with individuals recovering from substance abuse. This group of individuals probably has some the highest number of obstacles that they will face when trying to find decent employment for so many different reasons. Some of the reasons why these individuals will face obstacles and discrimination when trying to find decent employment can be the possibility of a criminal record, the loss of job performance/productivity, fear of theft by the employer, conflict among other employees, and much more. When working with this group of people, I think it is and will be imporant for me to understand that they might be very sensitive to certain challenges and discussions. It is so essential to understand that these individuals are still learning who they are again after becoming sober, therefore being socially outgoing and knowing how to really communicate with others can be a scary challenge, making interviews and working with others even more of a challenge. As their counselor, it will be important for me to be sensitive, patient and understanding with the client in order for me to properly help them get past these obstacles that way then can hopefully obtain success. This will be challenging at times because I’m sure that these clients will not only be learning how to function sober minded in their communities 4

now, but they will also most likely be working on regaining friend and family relationships that need repairing. It will also be my goal to not overwhelm my client and to help them learn how to balance their new lifestyle that way everything doesn’t seem so impossible to do at once. By balancing their lifestyles with family, friends, personal relationships, possibly school, and future career goals, the client will feel more capable of achieving their goals. These individuals, while learning how to rebuild relationships with others, will also still be learning their new self, which will include learning new hobbies they enjoy, learning new beliefs and morals and much more, which will all have to be taken into consideration when working with this cleint in order to be culturally sensitive to their case. Advocacy Strategies The advocacy needs for individuals living in poverty will include being able to provide them with the knowledge/skills, opportunities, and resources they will need to obtain decent employment, being that this is what they are lacking the most compared to individuals outside of this marginalized group. When advocating for those living in poverty, it is important to help others acknowledge that there is so much diversity and oppression that is hindering this group of people and affecting them not only physically but also emotionally. These factors cause extreme mental health distress. Effective career and mental health services are not easily accessible to people in marginalized groups experiencing financial barriers (Smith 2005) despite the fact that such career counseling services act as a protective factor for mental health conditions and other psychological concerns (World Health Organization [WHO], 2007). Both the multicultural and social justice counseling perspectives acknowledge the importance of diversity and recognize that oppression has a debilitating effect on mental health (Ratts, 2017). When advocating for this 5

group, I would plan by throwing social community events, maybe fundraisers that will allow the funds to provide job training. With events like this I will be able to disburse knowledge to the community about the obstacles this marginalized group of people face when trying to find decent employment. By providing this knowledge to people and raising awareness, it brings together the community for a good cause that has the possibility to make the community even better, which is something I think most people would be willing to help with. This will give employers to the opportunity to make the decision on working with this marginalized group and give them a chance a decent career by allowing them the possibility of on the job training, in the case that the individual may not have the immediate knowledge to perform certain job tasks. I will also be able to advocate for this marginalized group through social media. I could make informative videos that allow individuals to gain the knowledge of the oppression those living in poverty face when they are not given the proper resources and opportunities that they need to be successful. Conclusion Overall, by advocating for this community, I will be able to raise awareness in not only how more successful small communities could be with a larger number of employees if these marginalized individuals were given the chance for good employment, but also how harmful it can be not to give these individuals the opportunity for decent employment. The poverty rate around the entire world rises each year, and with that we see more mental health issues. The only way to make a positive social change for this group is to raise awareness and help others understand that we are the only ones who can give these individuals the proper chance at decent employment that they so badly need and desire. 6

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References Ratts, M. J. (2011). Multiculturalism and social justice: Two sides of the same coin Links to an external site. . Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 39 (1), 24–37. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1912.2011.tb00137.x Stebleton, M. J., & Jehangir, R. R. (2020). A Call for Career Educators to Recommit to Serving First- Generation and Immigrant College Students: Introduction to Special Issue. Journal of Career Development , 47 (1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845319884126 Tate, K. A., Fallon, K. M., Casquarelli, E. J., & Marks, L. R. (2014). Opportunities for Action: Traditionally Marginalized Populations and the Economic Crisis. Professional Counselor , 4 (4), 285–302. https://doi.org/10.15241/kat.4.4.285 7

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