Theories: Gilligan & Typology

Gilligan’s Theory of Women’s Moral Development
Care and responsibility are main themes of women’s moral compass
Level I: Orientation to Individual Survival – self-centered and preoccupied with survival; can’t differ between what needs to occur and what they desire to occur; ; relationships do not meet expectations; women can intentionally isolate selves as protection against pain associated with unfilled intimacy
First Transition: From Selfishness to Responsibility – issue is of attachment and connection to others; criteria for judging changes from independence and selfishness to connection and responsibility; needs and desires can be distinguished; more choices for moral judgment occur; begin to integrate responsibility and care into decision-making patterns
Level II: Goodness as Self-Sacrifice – survival becomes social acceptance; reflect on conventional feminine values; person may give up own judgment to achieve consensus and remain connected to others; disequilibrium occurs over issue of hurting others
Second Transition: From Goodness to Truth – questions why must put others first at her own expense; examines own needs in relation to responsibility; judgment shifts to include self in terms of moral decisions-making; sees own needs as truth and not selfishness
Level III: The Morality of Nonviolence – person raises nonviolence, a moral mandate to avoid hurt, to the overriding principle that governs moral judgment and action; person can recognize power to select among competing choices and to keep her needs within the mix of moral alternatives

~ While I like the idea of placing transitions into the model, I think that, at least for my theory, everyone will go through different transitions so I cannot necessarily use a single transition in the theory.

~ I find that typological theories, by their very nature, are not helpful to me. Because they focus so specifically on one sort of identity it does not really help me to gauge the sort of theory I am trying to make where multiple identities can be addressed simultaneously.

From: Student Development in College.

Cognitive-Structural Theories: Perry, Women’s Way of Knowing, & Magolda

Cognitive-Structural Theories – sets of assumptions by which persons adapt to and organize their environments; act as filters or lenses for determining how people perceive and evaluate experiences and events
Assimilation – process of integrating new info into existing structures, rounding them out, and contributing to their expansion (quantitative change)
Accommodation – process of modifying existing structures or creating new structures to incorporate stimuli that will not fit into existing structures (qualitative change)
Equilibrium – balance between assimilation and accommodation; necessary for person to interact efficiently with environment
Disequilibrium – cognitive conflict; occurs when expectations not confirmed by experience

~ I think this also plays into how one incorporates multiple forms of identity into one core self. The four pieces work together and interplay to create identities that strive to coordinate with one another.

William Perry’s Theory
Positions are static; development happens during transition between positions, not in positions;
Dualism – mode of making meaning that tends to view the world in either/ors; good-bad, wrong-right, etc.
Mulitiplicity – listening to diverse views when the right answers aren’t known; all opinions equally valid
Relativism – some opinions of little value; need to be able to support ideas with evidence
1.    Basic Duality
2.    Multiplicity Prelegitimate
3.    Multiplicity Legitimate but Subordinate
4a.  Multiplicity Coordinate
4b.  Relativism Subordinate
5.   Relativism
6. Commitment Foreseen
7-9. Evolving Commitments

~ This is a very complex theory. There’s so much going on and it’s so complex that I find it difficult to understand. I do think that it’s interesting that Perry thinks that development occurs during transitions between stages and not in the actual stages. To me this signals that Perry knew that development required a change that could not be had by everything remaining the same. There needs to be some sort of catalyst to create a development.

Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule’s Women’s Ways of Knowing
Perspectives; categories not fixed, exhaustive, or universal; categories do not portray unique and complex aspects of a given person’s thought process; similar categories may be found in men’s thinking; others may organize observations in a different way
1.    Silence – mindless, voiceless, obedient; powerlessness; women subject to whim of external authority; tend to be the youngest and most deprived
2.    Received Knowledge – listening to the voices of others; lack of self-confidence – can reproduce knowledge but not create it; truth doesn’t lie in self
3.    Subjective Knowledge – truth lies in one’s self; inner knowledge superior to exterior knowledge; significant shift
4.    Procedural Knowledge – learning and applying objective procedures for receiving and conveying knowledge; two approaches: (1) separate knowing – impersonal procedures for establishing truth; critical thinking, listening to reason, etc.; (2) connected knowing – truth emerging in the context of personal experience and based on empathy and care, not based on authorities
5.    Constructed Knowledge – integration of subjective and objective knowledge; realize all knowledge is constructed and the knower is a main part of what is known; “passionate knowers”

~ This is too focused on one piece of identity to fully help my theory. And I think in every theory categories are not fixed, exhaustive, or universal…that’s just kind of a given in any theory.

Baxter Magolda’s Model of Epistemological Reflection
Six guiding assumptions in development of model
1.    Ways of knowing and patterns within them are socially constructed
2.    Ways of knowing can best be understood through the principles of naturalistic inquiry
3.    Students’ use of reasoning patterns is fluid
4.    Patterns are related to, but not dictated by, gender
5.    Student stories are context-bound
6.    Ways of knowing are presented as “patterns”
Four stages with gender-related patterns reflected in first three
1.    Absolute Knowing – knowledge is certain
Receiving Knowledge – private approach; used more by women;
Mastering Knowledge – public approach; used more by men
2.    Transitional Knowing – acceptance that some knowledge is uncertain; realization that authorities not all-knowing
Interpersonal Knowing – involvement in learning that includes gathering ideas from others, peer interaction to hear and share ideas, evaluations geared towards individual differences; used more by women
Impersonal Knowing – desire to be forced to think; debate as a way to share views; evaluation should be fair and practical; solve using logic and research; used more by men
3.    Independent Knowing – knowledge is mostly uncertain; instructor should provide content for the exploration of knowledge; evaluation should reward their thinking and not penalize views different from authorities
Interindividual Knowing – dual focus on value of one’s own ideas and ideas of others; used more by women
Individual knowing – values interchange between peers and instructors; more attention to individual’s own thinking than that of others; used more by men
4.    Contextual Knowing – joining of previous gender-related patterns; belief that legitimate knowledge is contextual; individual constructs point of view but perspective needs supporting evidence

~ I really like the six guiding assumptions of this theory. While I do not think they all necessarily think that they will all work for my theory, I do agree with numbers one and two. I might have to create some guiding assumptions for my theory.
From: Student Development in College.

Psychosocial and Identity Development Theories: Helm, Phinney & Schlossberg

Helm’s White Identity Development Model
Three types of racism; (1) Individual racism – personal attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors designed to assure the individual of the superiority of whites and the inferiority of non-whites; (2) Institutional racism – social policies, laws, and regulations maintain the economic and social privileges of whites over nonwhites; (3) Cultural racism – social beliefs and customs promote the idea that white culture is superior to nonwhite cultures; model is 6-status process of development
1.    Phase 1: Abandonment of Racism –
Status 1: Contact – person not aware of personal benefit of cultural/institutional racism; may enjoy being racist because they don’t realize they are; don’t really interact with many blacks unless they “seem white” but have positive attitude towards “idea” of blacks and fair treatment of them but anxious over spending time with them; eventually acknowledge that blacks are treated differently from whites in the United States
Status 2: Disintegration – conscious, but conflicted acknowledgement of person’s whiteness; dissonance occurs when whites realize culture doesn’t teach how to successfully interact with blacks; they withdraw from contact with blacks, or seek info that racism does not exist or is not the fault of white people; as developing new beliefs on this move on to…
Status 3: Reintegration – consciously acknowledges a white identity; guilt feelings change to fear and anger; either remove self from area with blacks or treat blacks as inferior
2.    Phase II: Defining a Nonracist White Identity –
Status 4: Pseudo-Independence – aka White Liberalism; actively question idea that whites are better than blacks; understand ways whites perpetuate racism; seek greater interactions of blacks; view racial differences through a white standard while expecting balcks to explain and seek solutions to racism
Status 5: Immersion-Emersion – replaces stereotypes with more accurate info; stop trying to change blacks and start trying to change whites; person tries to seek new identity; positive feelings allow person to confront and fight against various forms of racism and oppression
Status 6: Autonomy – white people internalize, nurture, and apply the new definition of white identity; race no longer a threat; person no longer feels need to oppress, idealize, or denigrate nonwhites; views broaden and become flexible; actively seek new learning opportunities of other cultures

~ I like the breakdown of phases and stages. That might be a useful way to break down my final theory. But, again, I do not want to limit my theory to one cultural grouping (white).

Phinney’s Model of Ethnic Identity Development
Based on Erikson’s theory; ethnic identity develops from shared culture, religion, geography, and language     of people who are connected; people confront stereotyping & prejudice and clash of value systems of     majority and minority groups
1.    Stage 1: Diffusion-Foreclosure – not explored feelings about own ethnicity
2.    Stage 2: Moratorium – person becomes more aware of ethnic identity issues; seek more info on ethnic or racial group; try to understand personal significance of ethnic identity; emotionally intense stage; anger towards dominant group and embarrassment about own past lack of knowledge of racial and ethnic issues
3.    Stage 3: Identity Achievement – reaches healthy bicultural identity; resolve identity conflicts and come to terms with ethnic and racial issues; secure sense of ethnic or racial identification

~ I like the simplicity of this model. While it seems very basic it makes it more all-encompassing of all individuals, which is what I am attempting to do.

Scholossberg’s Transition Theory
Transitions
Types – (1) Anticipated transitions – occur predictably; (2) Unanticipated transitions – not predicted or scheduled; (3) Nonevents – predicted events that do not end up happening; Nonevents are either (a) personal – related to individual goals; (b) ripple – felt due to nonevent of someone close; (c) resultant – caused by an event; (d) delayed – anticipating event that might still happen;
Context – refers to one’s relationship to the transition (person’s or someone else’s) and to the setting in             which the transition takes place (work, personal relationships, etc.)
Impact – degree to which transition alters daily life
The Transition Process
Reactions over time; Moving in, moving through, moving out

Coping with Transitions
Situations – Consider the following factors: Trigger: What precipitated the transition? Timing: Is the transition considered “on time” or “off time” in terms of one’s social clock? Is it viewed as happening at a “good” or “bad” time? Control: What aspect of the transition does the individual perceive as being within his or her control (for example, the transition itself or reaction to it)? Role Change: Is a role change involved, and, if so, is it viewed as a gain or a loss? Duration: Is it seen as permanent, temporary, or uncertain? Previous experience with a similar transition: How effectively did the person cope then, and what are implications for the current transition? Concurrent stress: Are other sources of stress present? Assessment: Who or what is seen as responsible for the transition, and how is the individual’s behavior affected by this perception?
Self – Personal and demographic characteristics: affects how person views life (socioeconomic status, gender, age {emphasizing psychological, social, and functional age over chronological age}, stage of life, state of health, and ethnicity; Psychological resources: aids to coping like ego development, optimism, self-efficacy, and commitment and values
Support – Types: intimate relationships, family units, networks of friends, and institutions and communities; Functions: affect, affirmation, aid, and honest feedback; Measurement: identifying person’s stable supports, supports that are to some degree role dependent, and supports that are most likely to change
Strategies – Categories: those that modify the situation, those that control the meaning of the problem, and those that aid in managing the stress in the aftermath; Coping Modes: information seeking, direct action, inhibition of action, and intrapsychic behavior

~ Schlossberg’s transition theory might actually play into my idea of identity formation. I see transitions as stemming from some form of dissonance or major change that is about to happen. This is what moves people into the next stage and helps individuals to develop themselves further. I also think the moving in, moving through, moving out is how people negotiate both culture and identity. They move into one, move through it and understand it more, and, then move out of it because the culture has developed further, or because they have found another identity to inhabit.

From: Student Development in College.

Psychosocial and Identity Development Theories: Josselson and Racial/Ethnic Development

Josselson’s Theory of Identity Development in Women
Based on Erik Erikson’s eight stages of identity development over the life span; Stage 1 (basic trust v. mistrust); Stage 2 (autonomy v. shame and doubt); Stage 3 (initiative v. guilt); Stage 4 (industry v. inferiority); Stage 5 (identity v. identity diffusion); Stage 6 (intimacy v. isolation); Stage 7 (generativity v. stagnation); Stage 8 (integrity v. despair); then James Marcia’s identity resolution process: Exploration (questioning values and goals defined by parents); commitment (attaching ownership to pronounced values and goals); idea of crisis and commitment
1.    Foreclosures: Purveyors of the Heritage – graduate from college with identity commitment but never experienced a crisis; childhood ideas serve as basis for direction and confidence in their lives; tend to adopt parents’ attitudes on sexual morality and choose occupation and religion that model parents’ beliefs and preferences; seek security in relationships, not work
2.    Identity Achievements: Pavers of the Way – break psychological ties to childhood and form separate, distinct identities; separation = painful; possibly giving up what is known to unknown; experience extreme identity crisis when breaking from parental ideas; what matters to these women is feeling pride in themselves, not seeking others’ pride to affirm their self-worth; make decisions against parental expectations when younger; have capacity to construct their own identity; forever becoming
3.    Moratoriums: Daughters of the Crisis – unstable time of experimenting and searching for new identities; occurs when woman realizes there are many ways “to be right;” tend to be the ones surrounded by overprotective mothers who indulge and overvalue them; most do not consciously want to be like mothers; possibly idealize father; daydream of huge magnitude
4.    Identity Diffusions: Lost and Sometimes Found – lack of crisis and commitment; lowest on ego development, difficulty establishing relationships, high anxiety, field dependency (making decisions based on external stimuli), and undifferentiated in sex-role orientation; tendency to withdraw from situations;

~ This is also not what I plan on coming up with. These stages are fairly concrete and you fit into one pretty much forever. Mine will be much more dynamic and incorporate more than just one category of person (women).

Racial and Ethnic Identity Development

The Cross Model of Psychological Nigrescence – “resocializing experience” in which an individual’s     identity is changed from being non-Afrocentered to Afrocentrism to multiculturalism; most prevalent     model made by Cross
1.    Stage 1: Preencounter – people view race as unimportant and prefer to all to be human beings; Eurocentric perspective; thoughts and actions are pro-white and anti-black; revised modeal ranges from low-salience (race-neutral) to anti-black; anti-black see blackness through racial stereotypes and prefer whiteness
2.    Stage 2: Encounter – involves an encounter that shatters person’s current identity and worldview; possibly multiple smaller encounters; makes a sense of disequilibrium causes vulnerability to new interpretation of identity; occurs in 2 steps (1) undergoing the encounter and  (2) being affected by it in a major way; step 2 has person personalize encounter and interpret world through new view; positive or negative encounter; period of anger at whites and anxiety over  “kind” of black person to become
3.    Stage 3: Immersion-Emersion – person lets go of old identity and commits to personal change; two phases: (1) total immersion into blackness while withdrawing from other groups, especially whites, go through rage, guilt, pride, (2) progression of a dualistic, reactionary mode into a more critical analysis of new black identity; greater control over emotional state
4.    Stage 4: Internalization – anti-white feelings give way to a nonracist perspective; sense of inner security and self-confidence in being black
5.    Stage 5: Internalization-Commitment – new person starts meaningful activities that address concerns and problems shared by African Americans and other oppressed people

~ Again, also not what I am planning on making. These stages do come through some sort of dissonance occurring that moves a person from one stage to another. That is a characteristic I plan on incorporating, because I feel as though that is typically how people grow, change, and develop.
From: Student Development in College.

Psychosocial and Identity Development Theories: Chickering

Chickering’s Theory of Identity Development
First outlined in book Education and Identity;  based on research from 1959-1965; initially targeted faculty, only later realized benefit to student affairs; 7 vectors; students move through vectors at different rates and vectors can interact with each other and students can reexamine issues with vectors they have previously passed through; not necessarily sequential, but do build off of one another; takes into account emotional, interpersonal, ethical, and intellectual aspects of development; Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Inventory (SDTLI) used to assess students

1.    Developing Competence – intellectual (getting knowledge and skills related to subject matter), physical (athletic/recreational activities, attention to wellness, and involvement in artistic and manual activities), and interpersonal competence (communication, leadership, and working with others); with all three build confidence handle situations
2.    Managing Emotions – develop ability to recognize and accept emotions and appropriately express and control them; negative and positive emotions
3.    Moving Through Autonomy to Interdependence – increased emotional independence; self-direction, problem-solving ability, and mobility; recognize and accept importance of interdependence (awareness of interconnectedness with others); basically “freedom from continual and pressing needs for reassurance, affection, or approval from others”
4.    Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships – development of intercultural and interpersonal tolerance and appreciation of differences; also capacity for healthy and lasting intimate relationships with partners and close friends
5.    Establishing Identity – comfort with body and appearance, gender and sexual orientation, sense of one’s social and cultural heritage, clear self-concept and comfort with one’s roles and lifestyle, a secure sense of self in response to feedback from others, self-acceptance and self-esteem, and personal ability and integration
6.    Developing Purpose – developing clear vocational goals, making meaningful commitments to specific personal interests and activities, and establishing strong interpersonal commitments; includes intentionally making and staying with decisions even in face of opposition; lifestyle and family influences affect the decision-making and goal-setting processes involved in this
7.    Developing Integrity – 3 sequential overlapping stages; humanizing values, personalizing values, and developing congruence; students progress from rigid, moralistic thinking to a more humanized value system in which interests of others are balanced with one’s own interests; next a personalized value system is established in which core values are consciously made and beliefs of others are acknowledged and respected; developing congruence deals with values and actions becoming harmonious as self-interest and a sense of social responsibility is balanced

~ Very detailed theory that covers overall identity development. I think this would work with every identity separately. So, technically you could be in a different stage for every identity you are in. This would kind of explain the way people act differently in different situations, because in a each situation a different identity would take precedence and, depending what stage you are in your actions and reactions would be different.

Environmental influences also play huge role:
1.    Institutional objectives – clear, specific objectives that personnel follow for programs and services lead to greater consistency in policies, programs, and practices and show values of institution; students and others can then agree with or challenge these values
2.    Institutional size – participation in campus life and enjoyment of college experience are needed for development to occur; opportunities for participation must be proportionate to number of students
3.    Student-faculty relationships – interaction between faculty and students helps development; students need to see faculty doing different things; it helps students to view faculty as accessible and interested in them outside of the classroom
4.    Curriculum – needs to be relevant; aware of individual differences, with many perspectives and helpful for students to understand what they are learning; process by which students learn has just as much impact as curriculum content
5.    Teaching – needs to involve active teaching, student-faculty interaction, timely feedback, high expectations, respect for individual learning differences; affects cognitive development in form of active thinking and integration of ideas; encourage interdependence, cooperation and interpersonal sensitivity
6.    Friendships and student communities – friendships and diverse student communities that have a shared interest and meaningful interactions help growth on all seven vectors
7.    Student development programs and services – joint efforts by faculty and student affairs professionals needed to provide developmental programs and services
8.    Integration of work and learning – (added by Chickering and Reisser in 1993); collaborative relationships needed between business, community, and schools that maximize developmental potential of work and volunteer experiences since most students work and take classes
9.    Recognition and respect for individual differences – (added by Chickering and Reisser in 1993); must be aware of differenct backgrounds and needs of their students and adjust interactions and interventions to respond to those differences
10.    Acknowledgement of the cyclical nature of learning and development – (added by Chickering and Reisser 1993); learning has periods of differentiations and integration, equilibrium and disequilibrium; new experiences and challenges give opportunities for new perspectives and better understanding to happen

~ Environmental influences are something I might need to consider while forming my theory.

Differences for:
1.    Women’s Development – interpersonal relationships plays much larger role than in men; development of mature relationships may happen sooner for them and autonomy later than
2.    Development of Students from Various Racial and Ethnic Groups – racial and ethnic identity development important for them; role of assimilation, acculturation, and cultural awareness needs to be considered; developing independence and autonomy occur in context of interpersonal relationships; family and extended family have big influence; perhaps adjust better at HBCUs bc isolation and loneliness affect making interpersonal relationships on predominantly white campuses
3.    Development of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Students – almost no research done for this area; possibly development of sexual identity may slow other parts of psychosocial development
4.    Factors Related to Development – confidence in academic ability; involvement on campus; previous life experiences; career commitment

~ This is what I want to stay away from. I think that once you add in so many extra factors that it makes a theory so bulky that it’s unusable. I think theories need to be understandable and BRIEF!

From: Student Development in College.

Basic theories

Interactionist Perspective – B=f(PxE); behavior is a function of the interaction or person and environment; Lewin 1936; to understand why people do what they do and help them develop need to examine factors like characteristics, background, and developmental level as well as where person lives, studies, works,etc.; interaction of variables also needs to be taken into account.

~ This is kind of like what I am thinking about. It takes into account multiple forms of identity simultaneously by incorporating into it the environment of the individual. It would be interesting to add some other piece to the equation, like PxExC where C is the cultures of the individual.

Challenge and Support – Nevitt Sanford, 1966; student development = person/environment interaction; 3 developmental conditions: readiness, challenge, and support; individuals cannot exhibit certain behaviors unless ready, if too challenging then don’t develop; amount of challenge can take depends on how much support available

~ I heart challenge and support. It’s so basic, so simple, and yet manages to work for just about every situation possible. I hope to be able to create a theory with this much simplicity and application.

Involvement – Astin, 1984; role of student involvement in development;
1.    Investment of physical and psychological energy in various objects
2.    Involvement occurs along continuum
3.    Involvement has both quantitative and qualitative features
4.    The amount of student learning directly proportional to quality and quantity of student involvement in that program
5.    Effectiveness of any educational policy or practice is directly related to the capacity of that policy or practice to increase student involvement

~ I think this could be taken along the idea of involvement in culture, as well. The more invested an individual is in a culture the more they develop that identity and the more one identity is developed the more the global self becomes developed.

Marginality and Mattering – Schlossberg, 1989; marginality – when person takes on new roles, especially if uncertain about what new role entails; sense of not fitting in and can lead to self-consciousness, irritability, and depression; minority groups may feel this way permanently; worry about whether they matter to anyone; 4 aspects to mattering: 1. Attention – feeling of being noticed, 2. Importance – belief that one is cared about, 3. Ego extension – feeling that someone else will be proud of what one does or will sympathize with one’s failures, 4. Dependence – feeling of being             needed, 5. Appreciation – feeling that one’s efforts are appreciated by others

~ I think this also works with culture. The more the culture matters the more salience it has in the global self. The more marginalized a person’s culture is the more other cultures/identities take precedence over it.

From: Student Development in College.

Notes about theory

Psychosocial Theories – looks at individuals’ personal and interpersonal lives; Erik Erikson did early research; a sequence of developmental tasks or stages confronted by adults when their biology and psychology converge and “qualitatively change their thinking, feeling, behaving, valuing, and relating to others and oneself.”; believe development happens over life and is basic underlying psychosocial structure that guides this development; Chickering 1969

Cognitive-Structural Theories – shows changes in the way people think but not what people think; from Piagetian psychology 1952; importance of heredity and environment in intellectual development; stages are “sets of assumptions people use to adapt to and organize their environments”; Perry, Kohlberg, King and Kitchener

Typology Theories – “examine individual differences in how people view and relate to the world”; stress that individual differences are good and healthy for the community; each individual, representing and type, brings unique, positive contributions to each situation

Theories – results from the need for people to make sense out of life; we all have informal theory that we use to make sense of our experiences; four uses: 1. Description – conceptualization of what is happening, 2. Explanation – can be used to explain causes of behavior, 3. Prediction – very few theories achieve, 4. Control – has yet to do

Useful theories should– to be useful needs to have these qualities: comprehensiveness, clarity and explicitness, consistency, parsimony, and heurism; should make predictions for a large range of behavior, concepts and relationships should be defined precisely, should allow for inclusion of findings within a framework, explanations should be simple and easy to follow, should generate testable hypotheses leading to useful research

Questions to evaluate theories –
1.    On what population is the theory based?
2.    How was the theory developed?
3.    Is the theory descriptive?
4.    Is the theory explanatory?
5.    Is the theory prescriptive?
6.    Is the theory heuristic? (generate research ideas)
7.    Is the theory useful to practice?

Models – designed to provide the bridge between theory and practice
1.    Process models – have of a recommended series of action steps to connect theory to practice
2.    Procedural models – have a particular way of doing some aspect of student affairs practice

Paradigm – “basic set of beliefs that guides action”; 3 components; 1. Epistemology – how the inquirer comes to understand the worl; 2. Ontology – questions about nature of reality; 3. Methodology – how information is obtained; cannot be proven; guide theory and research

Overall, I think having a basic understanding of the various theories already in existence is very important. Also, I think the sections on what is needed to evaluate the theories might end up being helpful for me when I am forming my own theory.

From: Student Development in College.