Obstacles That Can Hinder Advocacy

Barriers to practicing advocacy concern lack power, support, laws, natural challenges, human nature, etcetera. Advocacies in sociology often concern justice to ensure that there are no stresses to human fulfillment. That itself is one of the fundamental setbacks for advocacy since every person has their intrinsic desires, which they seek to fulfill. Sometimes, such desires overlap social justice philosophies leading to wars, corruption, discrimination, and other social stresses. Unfortunately, societies exist in structures as explained by the Marx’s theory; hence, I have found myself on the powerless side of the advocacy. That includes instances where the perpetrators of social stresses are too resourceful that they are unshakable, or stressful issues such as drug trade and terrorism are high profiled to understand.

Besides, there is a lack of a support system for social advocacy on many levels. First, the perpetrators of social stresses, such as war, are often very radicalized to accept change. In that perspective, the fellow humans who would enjoy social justice benefits fail to support advocacy philosophies. Governments who arguably have a range of powers underutilize their potential in solving social issues or are reluctant to address them immediately. Besides, some laws and policies limit the success of sociological advocacy. For instance, gun laws and abortion policies have underlying complexities due to abiding laws.

Lastly, natural challenges and the human nature of helping others at times challenge advocacy. For instance, my mobility – which is critical for advocating practice, has been halted significantly by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a natural challenge that abruptly denies a chance to influence change adequately. Besides, some stakeholders for advocacy fail to perceive advocacy as is and seek to benefit. In other cases, the advocacy plan fails because few people are willing to offer their resources to address society’s stressful issues.