SOCIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT MODEL
Bailey Jackson and Rita Hardiman
Attempts to fully comprehend oppression and to design
effective strategies to prevent or eradicate oppression and
its manifestai:ions in individuals and systems
have to some
extent been
limited by the ways that the problem
is
con-ceptualized.
Typically,
oppression
is viewed
as a
problem to be solved like a cancer that can be surgically
removed. There
is often a failure to recognize that
oppression is
learned
by both
the
oppressor
and the
oppressed; that because it is learned it can and must be
unlearned; and that the unlearning process does not happen in
one step.
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Through the
study
of
specific
manifestations
of
oppression the learning and unlearning p'rocess for both the
oppressor and the oppressed can be descrlbed in a sequence of
developmental stages.
Most notable is the work of Paulo
Freire who identified three stages of consciousness of the
oppressed through his work with Brazil ian peasants.
Also
informative is the work related to the social identity
development of Blacks (Jackson, 1976; Cross, 1974), Whites
(Hardiman, 1981), Asian Americans (Kim, 1980), Women and Men.
These models
suggest that there
is a generic
set of
develop-mental stages
for both
the
oppressor
and .the
oppressed vis-a-vis each manifestation of oppression.
These
stages can serve as a diagnostic or intervention planning
tool in anti-oppression training and education.
These models combine what is known about the social
identity development process for individuals and groups with
what is known about the effects that specific manifestations
of oppression have on individual and group development. They
describe how oppression affects what might be seen as a
"natural" social identity development process.
The Social
Identity Development Model (SIDM) represents an extraction of
those attributes of other models that seem to be generic to
oppressors and oppressed.
The SIDM describes the process that oppressor and
oppressed move through in the struggle to attain a liberated
social identity in an oppressive environment.
Eyeglasses of
different prescriptions
can be used as a metaphor for
describing the stages of the SIDM.
At each stage of
development, it is as if the person
or social group
individually or collectively takes off one pair of glasses
and puts
on another pair with
a completely
different
prescription. This new pair of glasses provides a different
view of the world than did the pair that was removed.
This
change of glasses, or consciousness, can have a dramatic
effect on the way that the person thinks, feels and behaves.
with each change of glasses, the person or group will view
their condition in terms of oppression differently.
The SIDM can also be viewed as a kind of road map that
shows the path from an oppressive or oppressed consciousness
to a liberated social consciousness.
This map highlights
five major points of reference.
Each point on this map is
described as a stage of consciousness.
We have named the
five points: 1) Naive, 2) Acceptance, 3) Resistance, 4)
Redefinition, and
5)
Internalization.
The
stages
of
Acceptance and Resistance have two possible manifestations,
passive (unconscious) or active (conscious)o
STAGES IN SOCIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
NAIVE
PASSIVE ACCEPTANCE
ACTIVE ACCEPTANCE
PASSIVE RESISTANCE ----------~--------
ACTIVE RESISTANCE
REDEFINITION
I
INTERNALIZATION
Except for the first stage, each stage of consciousness has
three sub-stages. The sub-stages describe 1) the world view
of the person as they enter each stage of consciousness, 2)
the world view' of the person when they have fully adopted
that stage of consciousness, and 3) the world view of the
person as they prepare to exit that stage of consciousness.
The transition from one stage to another is typically
motivated by a recognition that the world view of the current
stage is
either
illogical,
detrimental
to
a
healthy
self-con-cept, impractical or in general no longer serving
some impor-tant self-interest. During the transition period,
a person, or group may appear to themselves and to others to
be in two stages simultaneously.
This is a result of being
in the exit phase of one stage and the entry phase of the
next stage at the same time.
Thus, the full road map may look as follows:
I,
NAIVE
I
PASSIVE ACCEPTANCE
ACTIVE ACCEPTANCE
Entry
Entry
Adopted
Adopted
Exit
Exit
PASSIVE RESISTANCE
ACTIVE RESISTANCE
Entry
Entry
Adopted
Adopted
Exit
Exit
REDEFINITION
Entry
I
I
I
I
Adopted
Exit
INTERNALIZATION
Entry
I
I
I
I
Adopted
Exit
When one considers the transitional flow from one stage to
another, the stages would be viewed as actually overlapping:
3
.•..
/
./
Adopted
Acceptance
Exit
Entry
I
Resistance
Adopted
The SIDM is presented below in outline form.
There is a
description
of the model
for the
oppressed
and
for the
oppressor.
Within each stage the is a description of each of
the three sub-stages.
The model
is described
from
the
perspective
of an
individual born into a social context that is governed
by
oppression, and follows the process
that this person moves
through toward liberation.
SOCIAL
IDENTITY
DEVELOPMENT
- THE OPPRESSED
NO SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
describes our condition when we are
born into this world _
It describes
the innocence
that we
bring to our socializers.
It is from this perspective
that
we are taught ou.r social group memberships
and our social
status as oppressed people.
STAGE
I - ACCEPTANCE
Active:
1) Conscious
system.
identification
with
the
oppressor's
logic
2) Rationalization
of the oppressed's
acquiescence
to
and/or active support of the oppressor and the logic
system that is unjust.
Ignores the contradictions
inherent in
the
rationalization
of
their
active
participation
in their own oppression.
3) Beginning to acknowledge
contradictions.
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the existence
of some ot tne
Passive:
~) unconscious identification with the
system 2) Denial of the existence
any collusion on the person's part
Uses the denial of differences as
seeing oppression.
3)
oppressor's logic
of oppression or
with oppression.
a means for not
Acknowledgment of the existence of some overt forms
of oppression.
Begins to see these overt forms of
oppression as more than just occasional exceptions.
STAGE II - RESISTANCE
Active:
1) openly questions individual and institutional support
for oppressive practices and policies. Seeks to gain
increased understanding of the nature of oppression
and the many ways that it manifests itself.
2)
Realizes feelings of anger, pain« hurt and raae
Confronts individuals
related to their oppression.
and systems that participate in active participation
or support of oppression.
Attempts to cleanse
themselves of those beliefs attitudes and behavior
patterns that were learned at the Acceptance stage.
3)
Realizes a sense of power related to an ability to
influence the immediate environment.
Develops a
clearer sense of "who I am not". Recognizes the need
for a clearer sense of "who I am".
Passive:
1) Questions
and
challenges
oppression
in
safe
situations where there is little or no risk to social
and professional position.
2) Experiences feelings of frustration, pain and anger.
continues to take greater risks through more open
challenges of oppression.
3) with each direct challenge of oppression, the person
feels an increasing sense of power and an increase in
desire to answer the question "who am I".
STAGE
III - REDEFINITION
1) The beginning efforts to answer the question "who am
I ?U takes the person at this stage on a search for
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new ways of defining th~ir social group
m~mbership in that social group.
and their
2) The process of searching, investigating, observing
and dialoguing with other members of the same social
group results
in
an
identification
with
and
participation in a naming process that results in a
~
group ~
or definition. The name is a word or
~hrase that describes the groups' way of experiencing
ltself.
3) The process of naming, allows the person to gain a
better understanding of the social Identity process.
This understanding also allows the person to gain a
better understanding of the different manifestations
of oppression and their inter-relatedness.
This new
awareness requires each person to examine the ways
that they must re-name their role on a variety of
manifestations of oppression.
STAGE IV - INTERNALIZATION
1) Once the person fully identifies with the new name(s)
from stage three, these new names are applied to the
various roles in the person's life.
2) As the person becomes more comfortable
application of their new name/identity,
identity becomes internalized.
with
this
the
new
3) Once internalized this new identity must be nurtured
in order that it may be sustained in a hostile
environment and against new and improved attempts to
resocialize it into the oppressive society.
SOCIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT - THE OPPRESSOR
NO SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS describes our condition when we are
born into the world.
It describes the innocence that we
bring to our socializers.
It is from this perspective that
we are taught our social group memberships and our social
status as members of an oppressor group.
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STAGE
I - ACCEPTANCE
Active;
1) Conscious identification with the social system(s}
that give the person privilege as a member of an
oppressor group.
2)
Operates
on and
actively
disseminates
negative
stereo-types about
oppressed
groups.
Blames
oppressed people
for their oppressed
condition.
Rewards those
oppressed people
who
support the
oppressive logic systeml and punishes those oppressed
people who question or challenge the system.
3)
Begins to recognize that some of the challenges to
the current system may have some validity. Begins to
question the espoused rightness of the oppressive
system.
Passive:
1) Unconscious identification with the social system and
the social group that gives the person privilege.
STAGE
2)
Denies the existence of social oppression.
Blames
the oppressed for their condition.
Agrees to help
the oppressed overcome their self-made condition so
that they will fit into the oppressor's system. Acts
out a form of paternalistic helping.
3)
Begins to acknowledge that there are some injustices
in the society.
Begins to acknowledge that the
oppressed group's condition may not be all their own
doing.
II - RESISTANCE
Active:
1) Questions and inventories the social supports for
oppression. Challenges oppression whenever it is
identified in people and institutions.
2) Owns own oppressive behavior and implicit support for
oppressive institutions.
Feels shame« guilt rand
anger the existence of oppression and the person's
role and support in maintaining it.
3) Actively
rQjQcts
own
opprQssive
behavior
and
attitudes and the social systems that teach and
Actively rejects the privilege
support oppression.
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gained from
an
oppressive
system.
Begins
to
experience an identity void and a need to redefine
one's self.
Passive:
1) Searches for examples of oppression in the behavior
of individuals
and institutions.
Qyest~ons
and
challenges the existence of oppression in socially
and professionally safe situations.
2) Recognizes
the existence of oppression and the
pervasiveness of the sickness throughout the society.
This recognition often results in an attempt to
drop-out, or distance one I s self from this social
system.
3) The frustration that results from the sense of
alienation often causes the person to more actively
engage the problem. The person will usually begin by
owning their own participation in the oppressive
s¥stem, and rejecting the tenets of that system.
L1ke the person
at the third
level of active
Resistance, this person begins to feel the need to
answer the question, "who am I7"
STAGE
III - REDEFINITION
1.)
The beginning efforts to answer the question "who am
I 1" takes the person at this stage on a search for
new ways of defining their social group and their
membership in that social group.
2) The process of searching, investigating, observing
and dialoguing with other members of the same social
group results
in
an
identification
with
and
participation in a naming process that results in a
~
group nsmg and definition. The name is a word or
phrase that describes the groups' way of experiencing
itself.
3)
STAGE
The process of naming, allows the person to gain a
better understanding of the Social Identity process.
This understanding also allows the person to gain a
better understanding of the different manifestations
of oppression and their inter-relatedness.
This new
awareness requires each person to examine the ways
that they must re-name their role on a variety of
manifestations of oppression.
IV - INTERNALIZATION
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1) Onc~ th~ p~rson fully identifies with the new name(s)
from stage three, these new names are applied to the
v«rious ro~e5 in the person's ~ife.
2) As the person becomes more comfortable
application of their new name/identity,
identity becomes internalized.
with
this
the
new
3) Once internalized this new identity must be nurtured
in order that it may be sustained in a hostile
environment and against new and improved attempts to
resocialize it into the oppressive society.
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