Stages of Majority Member of Cultural Awareness

As we begin to think about a human relations program, it is essential that you understand something about your own awareness of racial attitudes and discrimination. Helms (1984), suggests a model for understanding Whites' development of racial consciousness via a progression through five stages: Contact, Disintegration, Reintegration, Pseudo-Independence, and Autonomy. According to Helms, because Whites are the majority group in our culture, they can choose environments that permit them to remain fixated at a particular stage of racial consciousness. While the Helms theory is developed to explain the racial consciousness of Whites, the parallels between male/female, heterosexual/homosexual, and host/foreign visitor relationships are compelling.

The following stages are representative of different levels of majority member sensitivity to minority member concerns. The majority member distinction suggests that majority groups are those groups in a society whom, by the virtue of their group's control of economic, cultural and other rewards, has had a negative effect on groups unlike themselves. Using this description, majority groups in the United States would be likely to include the following:

  1. Caucasians
  2. Men
  3. Heterosexuals
  4. Non-Handicapped people

Each stage is briefly described and behaviors and attitudes associated with the stage are identified. Some examples of students' statements associated with the stage are also listed.

1. Contact Stage - In this stage, majority members become aware of the existence of minority members. They do not perceive themselves as "racial beings" and tend to assume that racist and cultural differences are unimportant.

Behaviors and attitudes:

  • believes that everyone is the same.
  • has a naive curiosity about culturally different people.
  • encounters with a minority group is a minor crisis.
  • believes in the "melting pot" theory of assimilation.

    • Student statements:

  • "When I talk to you, I don't think of you as African-American."
  • "You can do whatever you want to do as long as you don't do it around me."
  • "Some of my best friends are members of your group."
  • "Why are all minority students sitting together?"

    • 2. Disintegration Stage - In this stage, the person acknowledges that prejudice and discrimination exist and they are forced to view themselves as a majority group member. Guilt may emerge as racial, cultural, and sexual orientation differences become more apparent.

    Behaviors and attitudes:

  • sees self as less prejudice than most other members of the majority group.
  • wants to be seen as an individual and not a member of any group.
  • may attempt to protect minority members from negative interactions with majority group members.
  • may over identify with culture of the minority group.

    • Student statements:

  • " I am not like most men, I am very sensitive to needs of women,"
  • "My parents are very prejudiced but I am not."
  • "I am not responsible for the negative actions of majority group members.
  • "Most Caucasians are prejudiced towards minority students."

    • 3. Reintegration State - In this stage, the majority members tends to blame the victim (minority members) for creating their own problem. They denigrate minority groups and show a tendency to internalize positive attitudes about majority groups as victim of reverse discrimination.

    Behaviors and attitudes:

  • wants to focus on problems associated with own group.
  • believes that we are all the same.
  • thinks that too much attention is being placed on cultural differences.
  • believes that minority groups are over-sensitive.

    • Student statements:

  • "Racism isn't the only problem; what about world hunger."
  • "I believe that quotas of any kind are wrong."
  • "Gay and Lesbian students have no reason to complain about discrimination."
  • "Blacks are just as prejudice as Whites."

    • 4. Pseudo-independence State - In this stage the person accepts minority groups members at a conceptual level and becomes interested in understanding racial, cultural and sexual orientation differences. The interactions of these majority members tends to be with minority members perceived to be similar to self.

    Behaviors and attitudes:

  • can articulate reasons for accepting minority group members.
  • has friends who are members of minority groups.
  • tends not to be involved in any activity support for minority group concern.
  • believes that discrimination is a problem of the uneducated.

    • Student statements:

  • "I accept all minority group members and believe that we all should.
  • "Women have the same abilities as men."
  • "Racism and sexism are illogical."

    • 5. Autonomy Stage - This final stage is characterized by the person becoming knowledgeable about racial, cultural and sexual orientation similarities. This person accepts, respects and appreciates both minority and majority individuals.

    Behaviors and attitudes:

  • seeks opportunities to involve themselves in cross-cultural interactions.
  • values diversity.
  • respects and appreciates cross-cultural interactions.
  • is knowledgeable about cultural differences.

    • Student statements:

  • "I am actively involved in fighting racism."
  • "I am a recovering sexist."
  • "We are all members of the sameglobal community."
  • "Discrimination against any group has a negative affect on us all."

    • Summary Statement for Majority and Minority Cultural Awareness

    This lengthy description of these two models of cultural consciousness was presented so that you can evaluate where you might place yourself on the appropriate continuum.In summary, the stages for Whites are as follows: Contact, Integration, Reintegration, Pseudo-intellectual, and Autonomy. For Blacks and other culturally different groups the stages are: Pre-encounter, Encounter, Immersion/emersion and Internalization. With reference to the above mentioned description, take a moment and evaluate your own racial consciousness. A word to the wise, very few people are truly at either the autonomy or internalization stages of these two models. Be aware that these theories suggest and imply that it is possible to develop or increase one's level of racial consciousness. Therefore, it is your job as a student leader to help students to explore and increase their awareness of their own racial attitudes, and to develop the cross-cultural awareness skills necessary for life-long success.

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