Creating social justice has been at the core of my work for decades. Now, with Ukraine capturing international attention in their fight to defend their country, many others are inspired to promote social justice. Overnight, people are waking up – Ukraine has become a unifying rally cry for humanitarianism.
Social justice gives action to our sense of fairness, basic rights and equality. It is personal, helping us connect what is known with what is unknown. It invites us to look beyond the black and white information of what we are told, which is often one sided and prejudicial, to understand things from a humanitarian perspective. In Ukraine, thanks to real time reporting, the whole world can clearly see beyond the verbal rhetoric to recognize the lack of justice happening to their besieged people. Our sense of social justice has been ignited – we want to help.
This international awakening is gratifying. How can you help, and how can you carry this rallying cry forward to integrate it in other areas of your life?
RECOGNIZE THE PERSONAL ASPECTS OF ANY SITUATION
The combat in Ukraine has become personal for me. I have friends from Lviv, in eastern Ukraine near the Polish border and friends from Poland and Germany. Within days they have been using their contacts both here in the States and internationally to create a lightning-fast response network of humanitarian aid. They have set up a refugee center in Kattowitz, Poland near the border and are collecting medical supplies and food for some of the over 700,000 refugees who are coming in. They are helping refugees with travel arrangements and housing through support networks in Poland, Germany and Africa. Texts between dozens of people, often in coded language, are getting the impossible done quickly. It’s impressive. If you want to be a part of this, DM me, they are taking donations.
This concept of understanding the personal aspects of a situation is at the heart of the social justice work I do. In my consultation work with our local Mental Health Court, I help illuminate the mental health, psychological, and cultural aspects of people’s criminal behavior. When we treat those problems, offering them treatment rather than putting them into jail, getting them employed and safely housed, we help people develop fully functioning lives. We stop recidivism – It works.
In the consulting work I do for the SAMHSA GAINS Center, we train and encourage counties and states to explore ways to create diversion from the criminal justice system. By providing people the services they need when they are in crisis, the reliance on Police as the front line of intervention is reduced and incarceration as the only solution is eliminated. It works too. People are developing innovative programs that not only divert people from incarceration, it gets them off the streets, off drugs, into treatment, and safely housed, thus reducing recidivism.
Despite what you hear in the news, bipartisan person-centered social justice changes are happening in all areas of the US. I see it firsthand.
SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW
When you make fast decisions based on your current knowledge, you don’t know what personal and cultural biases keep you from understanding the full picture. We only know based on our own experiences and most of us are not adept at recognizing our own limited preconceptions. Social Justice invites us to expand our understanding of a situation from many perspectives.
There are many historical factors in the conflict in Eastern Europe that account for the reactions of the Ukraine people, as well as the reactions of their Polish and German neighbors. Their history is visceral, having lived through the terror of World War I and II with all the cultural prejudices that fueled hatred and mass genocide. They fully understand why they must fight with everything they have. Their impassioned international pleas are waking us up with new understanding.
Across the country, we are also becoming aware of the biases, both racial and cultural that fuel inequity in policing, arrest, sentencing and incarceration. As we seek to understand how trauma, mental health and substance use disorders influence people’s behaviors, we are slowly coming around to trying new approaches that address problems at their core, rather than locking people up in jail and prison. This approach gives people their life back, rather than taking it away.
STAND UP FOR THOSE IN NEED OF HELP OR PROTECTION
Bringing this concept into your personal life can be challenging if you are not working in the field as I am. Nevertheless, there is a new consciousness arising that encourages and fosters involvement and finding ways to put your sense of social justice into action.
Start with what is calling to you. If you want to help the people in Ukraine there are numerous links to international organizations offering help. See the New York Times link I have listed below, And, I will gladly send you a link to my friends who are organizing, they are volunteers, so all donations go directly toward purchasing the supplies that are needed.
If you have friends who need help, consider how you can be there for them. Ask questions, don’t assume you know what the problem is or the solutions. Let them give you the full story, get advice from experts and offer to make a connection. A simple formula, borrowed from the suicide prevention work of QPR – is to ask Questions about the nature of their problem, Persuade them to get help and make a Referral. Taking a person-centered approach to understand the nature of someone’s problems first and offering compassionate help will make a difference.
Our sense of social justice has been awakened by the stories of inordinate suffering coming from Ukraine. Our universal humanitarian hearts are being opened, making us want to help. Recognizing the personal toll the situation creates makes us want to respond, as it does in other problem areas here at home. Seek to understand what you don’t know so you can be more effective in your efforts and finally, look for ways to stand up and help others in need. You too can be a Social Justice Advocate.
If you would like to explore how to do more of this, reach out. My Transformational Coaching and Therapy has helped many people develop more personally satisfying lives where they put their values to work and live more authentically. Go to www.spectrumtransformation.com and use my Free Consultation link to reach me. I would love to hear from you.
* Resources for providing aid to Ukraine:
-New York Times list of resources: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/02/opinion/ukraine-charity-donation-guide.html
-For a more personal approach to giving aid, DM me, my Polish friend is collecting support on PayPal that’s going for medical supplies for the refugee center on the front lines and assistance with travel and housing.
*Photo by Noah Eleazar for Unsplash
