In recent years, social justice has been increasingly identified as a central element of professional identity in counseling psychology. This development has been characterized most frequently by a consideration of social justice within the context of multiculturalism. The present study examines the practice of affiliating social justice with multiculturalism, in light of earlier historical debate that established social justice as a foundational value in a variety of disciplines external to psychology. Distinctions are evident between this historical, interdisciplinary understanding of social justice and counseling psychology's more recent conceptualization. By affiliating social justice with an element of professional identity as central to the discipline as multiculturalism, counseling psychology has ascribed an equivalent importance to both areas of study. The ideological origins of social justice, historically distinct from the predominantly identity-based foundations of multiculturalism and multicultural theory, have been largely overlooked within this context. Attitudes and behaviors of counseling psychology graduate students provide a means of examining how and to what degree counseling psychology's conceptualization of social justice has influenced professional identity development, clinical training, and the perception of potential roles for counseling psychologists in society. Conclusions derived from empirical analysis of these attitudes and behaviors may facilitate pursuit of more genuinely achievable justice-related efforts, furthering current understanding and informing more theoretically integrative conceptualization of the construct within the discipline. Research hypotheses incorporate variables of social justice, multicultural competence, and professional activity grounded in the scientist-practitioner training model. Scale construction, data collection, and data analysis are described in conjunction with study results, implications of the study, and suggestions for further research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]