Theories for Consideration When addressing student concerns, it is important to think about the students’ development. There are many student development theories available to inform the decisions of the administration. The theories we used as a lens through which to examine this case address the development of racial identities (Cross and Fhagen-Smith’s [2001] Model of Black Identity Development) and understanding of gender and sexuality (Lev’s [2004] non-binary fluid model) as well as those that examine student’s intersecting identities (Abes, Jones, and McEwen’s [2007] Reconceptualized Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity) and those that contextualize students’ development and perceptions of their environment (Bronfenbrenner’s [1973,
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Cross, Jr. and Peony Fhagen-Smith crafted a model of Black Identity Development which was based on Nigrescence theory (Cross & Fhagen-Smith, 2001, as cited in Patton et al., 2016). Through their collaboration, Cross and Fhagen-Smith created a lifespan model to describe the individualized and nuanced processes that occur in the development of Black identity. The model has two components: three nigrescence patterns, which interplay with six developmental stages, called sectors (as cited in Patton et al., 2016). The particular nigrescence pattern that is currently active in a given individual’s life determines what behaviors and reactions that individual may exhibit within each sector. Nigrescence Pattern A describes firm socialization into Black identity from a young age. Nigrescence Pattern B, on the other hand, represents an avoidance or low salience of Black identity until a “conversion experience” forces that identity into salience (as cited in Patton et al., 2016, p. 96). Nigrescence Pattern C occurs upon leaving Pattern A or B and involves the process of nigrescence recycling, in which a person’s Black identity is cyclically re-formed and adapted based on environmental factors. The life sectors through which these patterns weave are Infancy and Childhood, Preadolescence, Adolescence, Early Adulthood, Adult Nigrescence, and Nigrescence Recycling. The way by which Nigrescence Patterns and Lifespan Sectors interweave in this model demonstrates the complex nature …show more content…
Race had never seemed like an issue in her life until she attended SPCC, and she instantly felt like an outsider for the first time. Keisha began to resent the White community and realized she felt unsafe. Her first semester, she had a class with Claude Dumont, who invited her to attend a meeting of the Black Student Union. After attending a few of the BSU meetings, Keisha applied for a job as a student worker at the Office of Multicultural Student Life. Her experience with BSU has solidified her Black identity, as she learns what it means to be a part of a Black community. Through her conversion experience and her movement into Nigrescence Pattern C, Keisha is negotiating her identity and her ideas about the White community. The hate graffiti incident has been incorporated into that conversion experience, and has been a negative influence in the internalization of her black identity. She views White people as oppressors now that she has witnessed overt racism and bigotry. The hate graffiti caused Keisha to become extremely distressed; she was so upset that she had to withdraw from the world around her and take a week off from work. Keisha is not in danger of regression, since she now has a firm footing in the Black community; however, she has become fixated on the idea of White people as oppressors and
Cross, Jr. and Peony Fhagen-Smith crafted a model of Black Identity Development which was based on Nigrescence theory (Cross & Fhagen-Smith, 2001, as cited in Patton et al., 2016). Through their collaboration, Cross and Fhagen-Smith created a lifespan model to describe the individualized and nuanced processes that occur in the development of Black identity. The model has two components: three nigrescence patterns, which interplay with six developmental stages, called sectors (as cited in Patton et al., 2016). The particular nigrescence pattern that is currently active in a given individual’s life determines what behaviors and reactions that individual may exhibit within each sector. Nigrescence Pattern A describes firm socialization into Black identity from a young age. Nigrescence Pattern B, on the other hand, represents an avoidance or low salience of Black identity until a “conversion experience” forces that identity into salience (as cited in Patton et al., 2016, p. 96). Nigrescence Pattern C occurs upon leaving Pattern A or B and involves the process of nigrescence recycling, in which a person’s Black identity is cyclically re-formed and adapted based on environmental factors. The life sectors through which these patterns weave are Infancy and Childhood, Preadolescence, Adolescence, Early Adulthood, Adult Nigrescence, and Nigrescence Recycling. The way by which Nigrescence Patterns and Lifespan Sectors interweave in this model demonstrates the complex nature …show more content…
Race had never seemed like an issue in her life until she attended SPCC, and she instantly felt like an outsider for the first time. Keisha began to resent the White community and realized she felt unsafe. Her first semester, she had a class with Claude Dumont, who invited her to attend a meeting of the Black Student Union. After attending a few of the BSU meetings, Keisha applied for a job as a student worker at the Office of Multicultural Student Life. Her experience with BSU has solidified her Black identity, as she learns what it means to be a part of a Black community. Through her conversion experience and her movement into Nigrescence Pattern C, Keisha is negotiating her identity and her ideas about the White community. The hate graffiti incident has been incorporated into that conversion experience, and has been a negative influence in the internalization of her black identity. She views White people as oppressors now that she has witnessed overt racism and bigotry. The hate graffiti caused Keisha to become extremely distressed; she was so upset that she had to withdraw from the world around her and take a week off from work. Keisha is not in danger of regression, since she now has a firm footing in the Black community; however, she has become fixated on the idea of White people as oppressors and