WK10 MCS discussions

Betsey Barnett, PhD MCS 105

Shoreline Community College Shoreline, WA 98133 USA

Racial/Ethnic Identity Development

(From Ponterotto, J.G.; Pedersen, P.B. (1993) Preventing Prejudice: A guide for counselors and educators Sage

Publications)

There is a developmental process to understanding ourselves as members of a society that assigns meaning to race

(social class, gender). Identity development models help explain individual differences. Racial identity influences

how you experience the world, how you see others, and how you communicate

White Racial Identity

Stage One: Pre-exposure/Pre-contact

• Whites have not begun to examine their own ethnicity

• Lack of awareness of self as a racial being

• Unaware of social expectations and role regarding race

• Unconscious identification with Whiteness

• Acceptance of stereotypes about minority groups

•

(Transition: Something Happens)

Stage Two: Conflict Stage

• Individuals begin to recognize that they live in a society that

discriminates based on race

• Awareness of realities of prejudice, discrimination, racism

• Conflict over new knowledge about race relations

• Marked by feelings of confusion, guilt, anger and depression

(Transition: Something Happens)

Individuals respond to their new awareness in one of two ways:

EITHER:

Stage Three: Pro-Minority/Anti-Racism

• Whites begin to resist racism /identify with minority groups

• Identification alleviates strong feelings of guilt/confusion

• Still have self-focused anger and guilt, and anger at White culture

in general

OR:

Stage Four: Retreat into White Culture

• Retreat from situations that stimulate internal conflict

• Retreat into comfort and security of same-race contact

• Overidentification with Whiteness

• Defensiveness about White Culture

• Fear and anger toward people of color

•

(Transition: Something Happens)

Stage Five: Redefinition/Integration

• White people redefine what it means to be White

• Whites acknowledge responsibility for maintaining racism

• Individuals become more balanced, more open to acquiring new

information

Minority Identity Development

Stage One: Conformity

• Preference for the values/ norms of dominant culture

• Strong desire to assimilate into the dominate culture

• Negative self-deprecating attitudes toward own group

• Attitudes toward the dominant group are positive

• Denial

(Transition: Something Happens)

Stage Two: Dissonance

• Individual begins to question pro-White attitude /behaviors

• Individuals alternate between self- and group-appreciation and

depreciating attitudes and behaviors

• Confusion

(Transition: Something Happens)

Stage Three: Resistance and Immersion

• Individuals embrace own racial/ethnic group completely

• Blind endorsement of one’s group and all the values/attitudes

attributed to the group

• Individuals accept racism and oppression as a reality

• Rejection of the values and norms of the dominant group

• Empathic understanding /overpowering ethnocentric bias

(Transition: Something Happens)

Stage Four: Introspection

• Individuals develop a security in their racial identity that allows

questioning of rigid Resistance attitudes

• Re-direct anger/ negativity toward “White system” to

exploration of individual and group identity issues

• Conflict between allegiance to one’s own ethnic group and

issues of personal autonomy

• Individuals acknowledge there is variation amongst all groups of

people

(Transition: Something Happens)

Stage Five: Synergetic Articulation and Awareness

• Confident and secure racial identity

• Desire to eliminate all forms of oppression

• High positive regard toward self and toward one’s group

• Respect and appreciation for other racial/cultural groups

• Openness to constructive elements of dominant culture