Running head: THEORY PAPER 2

Theory Paper 2

Tori Engstrom

Seattle University

02-19-2018

SDAD 5400: Student Development Theory, Research, and Practice

Erica Yamamura
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Analysis
Yosso (2005) used CRT to analyze community cultural wealth and how communities of

color can provide knowledge, skills, and abilities to survive forms of oppression. They provided

6 forms of capital that people of color develop; ability to maintain aspirations, skills to maneuver

through social institutions, networking of people and community resources, intellectual and

social skills by communicating in more than one language, cultural intuition nurtured with

family, and resistance of oppression and inequality. This theory is significant to Student

Development because institutions are playing a passive role in students’ education and

experience by only emphasizing capital deemed worthy by the dominant society.

Rowe, Bennett, and Atkinson (1994) developed the White Racial Consciousness Model and

emphasized awareness of being White and what is implied compared to other nonwhite groups.

They proposed two vectors, Unachieved Consciousness which encompasses avoidant, dependent,

and dissonant attitudes/behaviors. The other, Achieved Consciousness with dominant,

conflictive, reactive, and integrative. This is significant to SA because professionals are going to

interact with all these different students at one point and need to enforce programs that can help

these students move to an integrative stage of consciousness.

Kohlberg (1981) developed the Theory of Moral Development which is a hard stage

development theory around moral development. Six stages were proposed; obeying rules to

avoid punishment, follow rules for own interest, meeting social expectations, view rules and

maintain the system, evaluate laws on fundamental rights, able to take equal consideration of all

points. This theory values the morality of the dominant group and these groups in higher

education created the missions, policies, and standards that didn’t include minorities which can

cause conflict if students’ values are not in line or even considered with the institution.
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Synthesis

After intersecting the three theories described in the analysis, two key points emerged.

When applying the intersection of these theories, the success of people of color can improve and

institutional change for the better is possible. Individuals developing into the highest stages of

morality (Kohlberg, 1981) and white racial consciousness (Rowe, Bennet, & Atkinson, 1994) are

vastly important because it can lead to community cultural wealth among people of color as

being valuable and important for their growth (Yosso, 2005). The highest levels of moral

development emphasize the ability to evaluate laws on their fundamental rights and being able to

evaluate each side equally (Kohlberg, 1981). The highest level of white racial consciousness is

Integrative Consciousness which emphasizes individuals who can understand racial/ethnic

complexities, come to terms with their whiteness, are more committed to social justice, have

genuine interactions with people of color, and are more engaged in social activism (Rowe,

Bennet, & Atkinson, 1994). If individuals can achieve these statuses, then it is also easier for

them to understand and advocate for people of color who are being oppressed by the higher

education system. If people of color and their community cultural wealth are valued and

appreciated, then it is one step toward those students being successful in a college environment

and graduating with a degree.

The second key point is that institutional change is possible. If students of color are truly

valued at an institution, then the influence of those community cultural wealth values can help

develop the morality of an institution. Leaders in higher education will continue to grow and

development more positively if white students are able to achieve their own development and

engage more in social activism and advocacy. If this influence can spread to the leaders of higher

education, then it is easier for them to understand the oppressions that students of color face and
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can also help them understand how traditional missions and policies are continuing to reinforce

oppressive cycles. Once these oppressive policies are recognized, it is easier to process and

analyze how to change these policies to better benefit students of color and close the gap of

oppression, inequality, and inequity.

Critique

The first critique of this theory is that the factors are all too dependent on each other to

ensure a positive outcome. If a large portion of white students are not at the highest levels of

moral development and white racial consciousness, then it isn’t likely that they are going to be

ready to understand and advocate for community cultural wealth among students of color. The

best way to mitigate this falling out, is to have classes regarding ethnic/racial relations be

mandatory for all first-year students to take, so that they can get a basic understanding of how

students of color are oppressed in higher education.

The second critique of this theory is that it can be very difficult to pinpoint an exact

method or way for change in an institution and success for POC to occur. This theory relies more

heavily on the student body and students taking direct action instead of the leaders of higher ed.

For example, it might be more important for leaders to obtain moral development and

consciousness and make changes to higher ed., so that new policies and missions could then

influence the current student body into positive development. There is a struggle of who should

be doing more work and who is supposed to help influence change at an institution. I believe the

answer is everyone, everyone should be striving to make change either in their personal

development or through social activism at their institution, as well as holding yourself and others

accountable.
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Reflection

In terms of the different theories, I would identify myself within the Human Rights and

Social Welfare stage of Kohlberg’s Moral Development (1981) because I can recognize the

injustice that occurs within our systems and can recognize when laws are created to benefit the

dominant groups in society. I have agency within myself to follow laws that I think are just and

fair. I wouldn’t identify as the Universalizable Ethical Perspective stage yet, because I still

struggle to look at every point in a case equally and have a really hard time engaging with people

who have extreme, racist, and unjust opinions. I would also say my white racial consciousness is

in line with Integrative Consciousness (Rowe, Bennett, & Atkinson, 1994) because I have not

afraid to take action and engage in social activism when it comes to social injustice and I

completely understand the white privilege that I have and how that has shaped my life. In terms

of Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) I would say that I have social capital that is more

in line with the dominant society because of my white privilege and I was raised with the values

of the dominant group.

When I look at myself in the future as a professional in student affairs I must recognize

that I hold a lot of privilege in relation to my whiteness, I do have some barriers that I can relate

to other students in terms of being a first-generation student and coming from a low SES family.

It is important for me to continue my education on racial injustice and how that is affecting

students in higher education because that is not an aspect I can personally relate to since I am not

a person of color. In terms of moving from theory to practice, I need to continue to evaluate

community cultural wealth and how students can come to college, use those skills, and be

successful in college. I want to be able to create a program or service that works with students of

color and show them that they do have cultural capital that they can use to navigate the barriers,
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how they can continue to use those skills and build on top of them, and how to expand those

skills to be successful in college.

An important consideration that SA professionals need to consider is identity. Their

identity, their students’ identities, and the institution’s identity are all key things to think about

when applying this theory into practice. Is the mission of the institution inclusive, equitable, and

just? How is the institution currently upholding their mission? Is the institution creating

opportunities for students to grow and develop their white racial consciousness and morality?

Are the students values different from the institutions? If so, how can you accommodate those

students? Professionals need to be ready to ask these questions, evaluate how many students are

at their campus with culturally different values, and how they can provide those students with the

tools to succeed.

An important practice that can come from this theory, is reinforcing programs and classes

that continue to engage the student body in their own development and consciousness. Advocate

for classes to emphasize the importance of white racial consciousness and how that can develop

their morality. Implementing programs that advocate for community cultural wealth values

among students of color, first-generation students, immigrant students, undocumented, and low-

income students, as well as teach students how to use their current skills, and teach them how to

grow with those skills in other environments.

References

Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido, F. M., & Quaye, S. J. (2016). Chapter Five: Racial Identity

Development. In Student Development In College: Theory, Research, and Practice (3rd

ed., pp. 297-313). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido, F. M., & Quaye, S. J. (2016). Chapter Fifteen: Moral

Development. In Student Development In College: Theory, Research, and Practice (3rd

ed., pp. 297-313). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race discussion of community cultural

wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69-82