Introduction
Racial identity development is a social and psychological process that an individual undergoes to form an identity related to a certain racial or ethnic group. When individuals encounter different racial or ethnic groups, they perform self-assessment and create an identity in response to knowledge, understanding, experiences, and actions (Thompson & Carter, 2013). Racial identity is a social construct, which individuals create, sustain, and transform, depending on the dynamics of social interactions, which occur among individuals from diverse racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.
Sue and Sue (2016) argue that racial identity development has a considerable impact on the counseling process because it determines behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of individuals. The implication is that therapists or counselors need to understand the racial identity of their clients so that they can provide unique and customized therapy based on their racial identity. Therefore, this essay describes racial identity development models associated with the minorities and elucidates their impact on the counseling process.
Racial Identity Development Models
Black Identity Development Model
As members of the minority race, Blacks have a unique experience, which has made them have a similar pattern of racial identity. Sue and Sue (2016) describes Black identity development model as a five-stage process that Blacks undergo in forming their racial identity from negative view to positive view of themselves. Pre-encounter is the first stage where Blacks view themselves negatively but view Whites positively for they want assimilation.
When Blacks experience the reality of racism, they enter the second stage, which is the encounter stage. At this stage, Blacks realize that they cannot assimilate fully to the White race, and thus, they retract their assimilation process and start to identify with their Black race (Thompson & Carter, 2013). In the immersion-emersion stage, the third stage, Blacks begin to value their race for the sense of guilt and fear disappears whereas pride and esteem rejuvenate. At the fourth stage, internalization, Blacks resolve their racial identity because there is a conflict between the new and old identities.
The resolution of racial identities makes Blacks culturally competent for they become tolerant, flexible, and multicultural people (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). In forming their racial identity, Blacks enter the fifth stage of internalization-commitment. At this stage, Blacks begin to advocate for social justice, civil rights, and social change. This model of identity development emanates from the experience of African Americans during the civil rights movement.
Asian American Development Model
Asian Americans are in the process of acculturation for they have a positive view of the White race. The model elucidates how acculturation, exposure, cultural competence, and social factors influence racial identity development among Asian Americans. At the first stage, family members or caretakers expose children aged 3 to 4 to their ethnicity, and thus, shape their ethnic awareness.
When children attain the age of schooling, they enter the second stage where they encounter prejudice and racism, which compel them to identify with Whites. After enduring discrimination and racism, children enter the third stage where they abandon identification with Whites and commence to wake up for they gain social and political consciousness brought about by civil rights movements (Thompson & Carter, 2013).
The fourth stage is the redirection stage where American Asians realize White racism and begin to connect with their culture and heritage. At the fifth stage, which in the incorporation stage, Asian Americans attain cultural competence for they can identify with their culture and respect other cultures.
Latino/Hispanic American Development Model
The basis of this development model is that it considers cultural factors, the marginalized status of Latinos, forced assimilation, pride in one’s culture, and freedom of choice. The process of racial identity development commences with the causal stage where there is the inability to identify with Latino culture due to negative views in the social environment (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Subsequently, Latinos enter the cognitive stage where negative views make them perceive themselves as poor and marginalized, and the assimilation becomes the only way of improving their lives and attaining success.
At the consequence stage, Sue and Sue (2016) describe it as a stage where Latinos do experience embarrassment, rejection, and stigma due to negative images of skin color, cultural norms, and accent among other attributes. At the stage of working-through, Latinos resolve their identity for they are unable to cope with double identities, and thus, they revert to their racial identity. At the fifth stage, there is a successful resolution of racial identity for Latinos attain complete acceptance of their ethnicity and race.
How Minority Clients Impact Counseling Process
The analysis of racial identity models shows that the minority groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos have shared similar trends in the racial identity process. The minority clients require customization of the counseling process to suit their experiences, exposure, and perceptions of dominant cultures and races. According to Sue and Sue (2016), oppression is a key factor that determines and drives racial identity among the minority groups.
In this view, counselors need to understand their clients regarding the nature of oppressions they have undergone and customize therapy to minimize oppressive effects and enable clients to attain positive racial identity. Since clients undergo different stages of racial identity development based on the culture, the development models enable counselors to design a comprehensive and effective therapy that targets each stage and culture (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Furthermore, the model enables counselors to design and undertake multicultural counseling, which empowers clients to formulate their identity effectively. With the help of the model, counselors assess beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of clients and guide them accordingly to resolve conflicting identities.
The minority clients at the conformity stage require therapists whom they perceive to be effective and competent. A conformity client reacts negatively to a minority counselor and positively to a majority counselor (Sue & Sue, 2016). In this view, a minority counselor has a challenge of alleviating resistance and hostility from a conformity client from the same race and culture. In contrast, a majority counselor experiences a challenge of diagnosing and treating a conformity client because appeasement has a confounding effect (Thompson & Carter, 2013). Thus, for counselors to overcome conformity issues, they need to assess clients and determine the degree of conformity so that they can prevent the occurrence of undesirable outcomes such as resistance, negativism, hostility, and appeasement. From the perspective of therapy, conformity individuals require task-oriented approach in the resolution of their issues related to racial identity.
Conclusion
The examination and description of the racial identity development models show that the minority clients have a unique way of forming their identity. Majorly, the experience of oppression is the core attribute that determines the course of racial identity development. Racial identity development models of Blacks, Asian Americans, and Latinos follow the same trends because they have a similar experience of oppression.
Consequently, the minority clients have major implications on the counseling process. The impacts of the minority clients are that they require customization of counseling process to suit their experience, exposure, and perceptions. The minority clients also require counselors to understand their racial and cultural values so that they can design comprehensive multicultural process of counseling. Moreover, clients require therapists to categorize them into different stages such as conformity stage and provide appropriate treatment.
References
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, D. (2016). Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions. Alexandria, VA : American Counseling Association.
Sue, D., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.
Thompson, C., & Carter, R. (2013). Racial identity theory: Applications to individual, group, and organizational interventions. New York, NY: Routledge.