Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counseling Psychology

Committee Chair

Suzanne Lease

Committee Member

Rosie Phillips Davis

Committee Member

Alison Happel-Parkins

Committee Member

Archandria Owens

Abstract

The development of white individuals’ critical consciousness may play a role in fostering an anti-racist orientation and increasing engagement in anti-racism activism efforts, ultimately aiding in counteracting the deleterious effects of racism and oppression in the United States. The prevalence of whites upholding whiteness, white supremacy, and systems of power and oppression is well-documented yet there is little literature on how critical consciousness and an anti-racist orientation develops in white young adults. This constructivist grounded theory qualitative study addresses this gap by exploring the perceived life experiences that were influential on six white young adults' critical consciousness development and how their experiences inspired them to adopt an anti-racist stance and engage in anti-racism activism. The analysis of semi-structured interview transcripts revealed six facilitating factors (e.g., personality attributes and shared values), four themes, and ten concepts. The four emergent themes call attention to the nuanced developmental process wherein phases of the process intersect and are regularly revisited. Findings suggest that emotions are present in all phases of the developmental process of critical consciousness and play a fundamental role in shaping cognition, motivation, and action among participants. Findings are contextualized in the theoretical and empirical literature and implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

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