Identity Development (Tatum, 1997, p. 94)

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Identity Development(Tatum, 1997, p. 94)

• the task for Whites is to develop a positive
  White identity based on reality and not on
  unacknowledged privilege.

• According to Janet Helms, task for people of
  color is to resist negative societal messages and
  develop an empowered sense of self in the face of
  a racist society

• No one was born wanting to be racist, sexist or
  homophobic. Misinformation is not acquired by
  free choice, but is imposed on us (Sue Sue,
  2003)
• WE ALL HAVE A LOT OF UNDOING TO DO

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Racial/Cultural Identity Developmental Tasks

• Move from a White frame of reference to a
  positive Black racial/cultural frame of
  reference (Cross, 19711972).
• Move towards greater acceptance of ones culture
  and ethnicity (Ruiz, 1990).
• Commitment to eliminating all forms of oppression.

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Stages of Racial/Cultural Identity Development
(Atkinson, Morten, Sue, 1998)

• Conformity-The White Way is the Right Way
• A time of Imposition of Etics (Berry)
• Etic- the process of trying to find universal
  behaviors, beliefs and values across cultures
• Emic- an examination of behaviors and norms
  within a culture to determine what is important
  within that culture.
• Dissonance-Crisis
• Resistance Immersion-Pendulum Swing
• Introspection- Looks at self more, Group views
  conflict with personal views
• Integrative Awareness-There are acceptable and
  unacceptable aspects to all cultures.

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White Racial Identity Development

• Two Developmental Tasks
• Abandon individual racism
• Recognize and oppose institutional and cultural
  racism.

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Statuses of White Racial Identity Development
(Helms, 1995)

• Contact-The White Way is the Right Way
• Disintegration- Crisis
• Reintegration- Resolves crisis by going back to
  contact
• Pseudo-independent-Paternalzing and tolerance
  of other racial groups
• Immersion/Emersion-Redefines own white identity
• Autonomy- Uses informed internalized standards
  for self definition, capacity to relinquish the
  privileges of racism.

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WRID (D.W. Sue Sue, 1990 D.W. Sue, et al.,
1998)

• Conformity-The White Way is the Right Way,
• We are all the same under this skin
• Desire minorities to assimilate to White norms
• States Color blindness
• A time of Imposition of Etics (Berry)
• Etic- the process of trying to find universal
  behaviors, beliefs and values across cultures
• Emic- an examination of behaviors and norms
  within a culture to determine what is important
  within that culture.
• Dissonance-Crisis
• Resistance Immersion- Pendulum Swing
• Starts to see racism everywhere
• Anger at being sold a false bill of goods
• Guilt for having been part of the oppressive
  system
• Introspection- Looks at self more, Group views
  conflict with personal views
• Reformulation of what it means to be white
• no longer denies
• participation in oppression
• benefiting from white privilege or
• racism
• Integrative Awareness-There are acceptable and
  unacceptable aspects to all cultures.

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Latino Dimensions of Family and Personal Identity
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Latino Personal Dimensions Model (Arredondo
Santiago, 2000)
B Dimensions Acculturation Citizen
Status Educational Background Geographic
Location Family Relationship -Status/Familismo Ho
bbies/RecreationalInterests Self-referent
labels Economic Status Health Care
Practices/beliefs Work Experience Religion/Spiritu
ality/Folk Beliefs
A Dimensions Age/Generational Status Race
Culture/Euro/Mestizo/indigenous Sexual
Orientation Gender/Marianismo/Machismo Social
Class Language/Regional Accents
Phenotype Physical/Mental Status
C Dimensions Personal/Familial/Historical Eras/E
vents Sociopolitical Forces
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Biracial Identity Development

• Root, Maria (1990). Resolving other status
  Identity development of biracial individuals.
  Women Therapy, 9, 185-205.

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Assumptions

• U.S. Culture divided into white and non-white
• White is considered superior to non-white
• Privileges and power assumed by whites are
  desired by non-whites
• Racial hierarchy based on similarity to norm

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U.S. Culture Oppressive to biracial people

• Biracial persons given little choice as to how
  they identify
• Society is silent on biracialism
• Similarity to whites may foster isolation from
  communities of color because of history of racism
  perpetrated by whites.

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It is the marginal status imposed by society
rather than the objective mixed race of biracial
individuals which poses a severe stress to
positive identity development (p. 188).
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Developmental Challenges

• Childhood Awareness of race and the response of
  people in a childs environment
• Impact influenced by social relationships and the
  positive/negative messages communicated by family.

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• Adolescence and search for identity may result in
  increased feelings of alienation
• Dating is complicated
• Passing becomes an issue
• Tokenism (used by white organizations)
• Stereotypes (exotic, threatening)

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Strategies for Resolution of Other Status

• Acceptance of identity society assigns
• Identification with both racial groups
• Identification with a single racial group
• Identification with a new racial group

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Themes Common to Resolution Biracial person

• Accepts both sides of her or his racial heritage
• Has the right to declare how they wish to
  identify themselves even if this is discrepant
  from others views
• Develops strategies for coping with social
  resistance or questions about racial identity so
  that external bias is not internalized.

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• Resolution strategies can change over a lifetime
• Looking for acceptance outside of oneself keeps
  the biracial person trying to live by
  irrational racial classification rules which
  may keep her or him marginal in any group (p.
  203).

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Lesbian/Gay/Bi-Sexual Identity Development
Lifelong Process (deMonteflores Schultz, 1978)

• Adopting a nontraditional identity
• Restructuring ones self-concept
• Altering ones relations with others and society
• Two levels of coming out
• To oneself
• To others

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All aspects of identity will have development
that accompany them. Peter Russell and Theo
Burns plan to come and speak to you more about
working with GBLT clients.

• For now, lets look at some of the models
  available

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Lesbian Identity Development (McCarn Fassinger,
1996)

• Awareness
• Exploration
• Deepening/Commitment
• Internalization/Synthesis

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Gay Male Identity Development (Fassinger
Miller, 1996)

• Internal individual sexual identity development
• Contextual group-membership identity development

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Bi-Sexual Identity Development
?

• A Proposed Model of Bisexual Identity Development
  the Elaborates on Experiential Differences of
  Women and Men Page Range 68 - 91DOI
  10.1300/J159v02n04_05 Tom Brown  Bisexuals
  have experiences that make them unique as a
  group. Thus, it would seem reasonable to have a
  model of identity development for this group.
  This article reviews theoretical and empirical
  models of lesbian, gay, and bisexual identity
  development. A new model of bisexual identity
  development is then proposed, containing research
  from lesbian and gay identity development models
  to serve as hypotheses. These hypotheses serve to
  help better understand how women and men might
  experience the bisexual identity development
  process differently.

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Kleins Grid Model

• The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid is shown in the
  table below. For each person, it sets out the
  seven component variables of sexual orientation,
  listed as A through G down the left side. The
  three columns indicate three different points at
  which sexual orientation is assessed the
  person's past, their present, and their ideal.
  The person then receives a rating from 1 to 7 for
  each of the 21 resulting combinations, one rating
  for each empty box in the chart below. The
  meanings of the ratings are indicated just below
  the grid itself.
• For variables A to E
• 1 Other sex only2 Other sex mostly3 Other
  sex somewhat more4 Both sexes5 Same sex
  somewhat more6 Same sex mostly7 Same sex
  only
• For variables F and G
• 1 Heterosexual only2 Heterosexual mostly3
  Heterosexual somewhat more4 Hetero/Gay-Lesbian
  equally5 Gay/Lesbian somewhat more6
  Gay/Lesbian mostly7 Gay/Lesbian only
• Note that the Klein Grid takes into consideration
  the fact that many people change their
  orientation over time. Where a person is today is
  not necessarily where she or he was in the past
  -- or, for that matter, where he or she will be
  or would like to be in the future. The concept of
  sexual orientation as an ongoing dynamic process
  is necessary if we are to understand a person's
  orientation properly in its entirety.

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Its all about integration
in a particular context
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Therapist/Client Identity Development Interactions

• It is the therapists job to advance their own
  identity development in the areas of the isms,
  since they are in the position of power and
  ethically mandated to be not only competent, but
  culturally (which integrates all forms of
  diversity) competent.
• And what does Spiderman say comes with power??

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What if a therapist does not?

• Lets consider a case in which the therapist is
  at the conformity stage and the client is at the
  resistance state.
• Lets move beyond the current literature that
  speaks as if all therapists are of the dominant
  culture of identities.
• OK lets play with some more combinations.