Overview of Theory
Helms introduced her psychosocial White Racial Identity Theory in 1990 to “raise the awareness of white people about their role in creating and maintaining a racist society and the need for them to act responsibly by dismantling it” (Helms, 1992, p. 61). Helms developed the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS) inventory to measure identity development and determined that the “evolution of a positive White racial identity consists of two processes, the abandonment of racism and the development of a non-racist White identity” (Helms, 1990, p. 50).
The White Racial Identity Model involves six sequential stages: 1) Contact, an obliviousness to own racial identity; 2) Disintegration, first acknowledgment of white identity; 3) Reintegration, accepts the belief that White is superior and non-White is inferior and questions own racial identity; 4) Psuedo-Independent, intellectualized acceptance of own and others’ race; 5) Immersion/Emmersion, an honest appraisal of racism and significance of Whiteness; and 6) Autonomy, internalizes a multi-cultural identity with non-racist Whiteness as its core.
As the development process moves through the first three stages, the individual moves from obliviousness to consciousness of his or her white race and has a greater acknowledgement for whiteness and its role in society. Moving through these first three stages, the individual moves towards the abandonment of racism. The final three stages the individual is developing a non-racist White identity and understands what it means to be white, to take ownership of racial power and privilege and how it affects others, and work towards abandoning white privilege. This is the development stages where individuals can be “white without also being bad, evil or racist” (Helms, 1992, p. 61).
Use in Higher Education
White privilege and power is an important social construct in higher education. It is white supremacy that has created many barriers to success for minority students at an institutional, cultural, and societal level. More training and discussion must occur on college campuses with faculty, administrators, staff and students on white racial identity development. White individuals aware of their race and privilege can use it in a positive way to advocate and support students of color, which can include easier access to education for underserved populations, recruiting more diverse faculty, and creating more equitable policies and practices.
Annotated Bibliography
Miville, M. L., Darlington, P., & Whitlock, B. (2005, March/April). Integrating identities: The relationships of racial, gender, and ego identities among white college students. Journal of College Student Development, 46(2), 157-175. doi:10.1353/csd.2005.0020
The authors examine quantitative data from 300 White students (175 women and 125 men) to propose that racial and gender identities are related to ego identities. Participants completed the White Identity Racial Attitude Scale, Womanist Identity Attitude Scale or Men’s Identity Attitude Scale, and the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status. The authors suggest that the stages of gender and racial identity can predict the stages of identity development. For men and women who have a positive self concept (Achievement) it can predict a positive relation of gender (Internalization) and racial (Autonomy) development. Participants exploring gender identity conflicts (Disintegration/Reintegration or Diffusion) could predict an ego identity crisis (Moratorium). Interestingly, participants demonstrating no consciousness of race (Contact) still resulted in a positive ego identity (Achievement).
References
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Racial identity development. In Student development in college: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed., pp. 260-261). Jossey-Bass.
Helms, J. E. (1990). Toward a Model of White Racial Identity Development. In Black and white racial identity: Theory, research and practice (pp. 49-66). New York: Greenwood Press.
Helms, J. E. (1992). A race is a nice thing to have: A guide to being a white person or understanding the white persons in your life. Topeka, Kansas: Content Communications.
Miville, M. L., Darlington, P., & Whitlock, B. (2005, March/April). Integrating identities: The relationships of racial, gender, and ego identities among white college students. Journal of College Student Development, 46(2), 157-175. doi:10.1353/csd.2005.0020
