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On the next page is the Racial/Cultural Identity Development Model (Atkinson, Morten, and Sue 1989) followed by a short description of each stage of development. The descriptions include a paragraph each for the minority and majority person. This gives both sides of the issue in terms of the awareness and work needed for each person depending on their perspective. The following paragraphs are taken from a synopsis written by Olivia Mercado (1990) of Sue and Sue’s (1990) work. Although the model is based on the construct of race, racism and racial issues and concerns within the United
States, with some extrapolation many aspects would hold true for any oppression anywhere.
I STAGES OF MINORITY DEVELOPMENT MODEL
Minority persons are distinguished by their unequivocal preference for dominant cultural values over their own. White Americans in the United States represent their reference group, and the identification is quite strong. Lifestyles, value systems, and cultural/physical characteristics most like White society are highly valued, while those most like their own minority group are viewed with disdain or are repressed. It is reasonable to believe that members of one cultural group tend to adjust themselves to the group possessing the greater prestige and power in order to avoid inferiority feelings.
Yet, it is exactly this act that creates ambivalence in the minority individual. The pressures for assimilation and acculturation (melting-pot theory) are strong, creating possible culture conflicts. Jones (1972) refers to such dynamics as cultural racism:
 belief in the superiority of one group's (White's) cultural heritage--its language, traditions, arts-crafts, and ways of behaving (White) over all others;
 belief in the inferiority of all other lifestyles (non-White)

the power to impose such (White) standards onto the less powerful group.
Minorities share dominant group attitudes and beliefs toward other minorities. These distinctions oftentimes manifest themselves in debates as to which group is more oppressed and which group has done better than the others. Such debates are counterproductive when used to:
 negate another group's experience of oppression,
1 Taken from Facilitators` Training Manual – Education for Social Justice: A Program for Adults , J. V.
Reza

 foster an erroneous belief that hard work alone will result in success in a democratic society,
 shortchange a minority group from receiving the necessary resources in our society

pit one minority against another (divide and conquer) by holding one group up as an example to others.
No matter how much an individual attempts to deny his/her own racial/cultural heritage, he or she will encounter information or experiences inconsistent with beliefs, attitudes, and values held by the dominant culture. Denial begins to break down, which leads to a questioning and challenging of the attitudes/beliefs of the conformity stage. The individual is in conflict between disparate pieces of information or experiences that challenge his or her current self-concept. There is also a growing sense of personal awareness that racism does exist, that not all aspects of the minority or majority culture are good or bad, and that one cannot escape one's cultural heritage. For the first time the person begins to entertain the possibility of positive attributes in the minority culture and with it a sense of pride in self. Feelings of shame and pride are mixed in the individual and a sense of conflict develops.
The culturally different individual tends to completely endorse minority-held views and to reject the dominant values of society and culture. The person seems dedicated to reacting against White society and rejects White social, cultural, and institutional standards as having no validity for him or her. There is a desire to eliminate oppression of the individual's behavior. During the resistance and immersion stage, the three most active types of affective feelings are guilt, shame, and anger. There are considerable feelings of guilt and shame that in the past the minority individual has "sold out" his/her own racial and cultural group. The feelings of guilt and shame extend to the perception that during this past "sellout" the minority person has been a contributor and participant in the oppression of his/her own group and other minority groups. This is coupled with a strong sense of anger at the oppression and feelings of having been brainwashed by the forces in White society. Anger is directed outwardly in a very strong way toward oppression and racism.
The minority individual at this stage is oriented toward self-discovery of one's own history and culture. Information and artifacts are actively sought out to enhance that person's sense of identity and worth.
Several factors seem to work in unison to move the individual from the resistance and immersion stage into the introspection stage. First, the individual begins to discover that

this level of intensity of feelings (anger directed toward White society) is psychologically draining and does not permit one to really devote more crucial energies to understanding themselves or to their own racial-cultural group. The resistance and immersion stage tends to be a reaction against the dominant culture and is not proactive in allowing the individual to use all energies to discover who or what he or she is. Self-definition in the previous stage tends to be reactive (against White racism) and a need for positive selfdefinition in a proactive sense emerges. Another conflict now becomes arises in terms of responsibility and allegiance to one's own minority group versus notions of personal independence and autonomy. The person begins to spend greater and greater time and energy trying to sort out these aspects of self-identity and begins to increasingly demand individual autonomy.
Minority persons in this stage have developed an inner sense of security and now can own and appreciate unique aspects of their culture as well as those in U.S. culture.
Minority culture is not necessarily in conflict with White dominant cultural ways.
Conflicts and discomforts experienced in the previous stage become resolved, allowing greater individual control and flexibility. The belief now is that there are acceptable and unacceptable aspects in all cultures, and that it is important for the person to be able to examine and accept or reject those aspects of a culture that are not seen as desirable. At the integrative awareness stage, the minority person has a strong commitment and desire to eliminate all forms of oppression.
II STAGES OF MAJORITY DEVELOPMENT MODEL
The minority person's attitudes and beliefs in this stage are ethnocentric. There is limited accurate knowledge of other ethnic groups, but a great deal of adherence to social stereotypes. This stage is described as an acceptance of majority superiority and minority inferiority (consciously or unconsciously). The conformity stage is marked by contradictory and oftentimes compartmentalized attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. On the one hand a person may believe that he or she is not racist, yet believe that minority inferiority justifies discriminatory and inferior treatment; that minority persons are different and deviant, yet believe that "people are people" and that differences are unimportant. The primary mechanism operating here is one of denial and compartmentalization. Such a denial allows a majority person to avoid personal responsibility for perpetuating a racist system.
Movement into the dissonance stage occurs when the majority person is forced to deal with the inconsistencies that have been compartmentalized or encounters information and/or experiences at odds with his/her denial. In most cases, a person is forced to

acknowledge their race/culture at some level, to examine their own cultural values, and to see the conflict between upholding humanistic non-racist values and their contradictory behavior. A major conflict is likely to ensue in people who recognize their racism and the part they play in oppressing minority groups. Feelings of guilt, shame, anger, and depression may characterize this stage. Guilt and shame may be associated with the recognition of the majority person's role in perpetuating racism in the past. Or, guilt may result from the person's being afraid to speak out on the issues or to take responsibility for his/her part in a current situation. This approach is one frequently taken by many majority people in which they rationalize their behaviors by the belief that they are powerless to make changes. There is a tendency to retreat into majority culture.
For the first time, the majority person begins to realize what racism is all about, and his/her eyes are suddenly opened. Racism is seen everywhere (advertising, television, educational materials, interpersonal interactions, et cetera). There is likely to be considerable anger at family and friends, institutions, and larger societal values, which are seen as having sold him/her a false bill of goods (democratic ideals) that were never practiced. Guilt is also felt for having been a part of the oppressive system. There are two complementary behaviour styles in this stage: the paternalistic protector role or the over identification with another minority group. In the former, the majority person may devote his/her energies in an almost paternalistic attempt to protect minorities from abuse. In the latter, the person may actually want to identify with a particular minority group in order to escape his/her own identity.
The majority person who enters the introspective stage is likely to have gone between two extremes (majority identity to rejection of majority identity). A need for greater individual autonomy is expressed. The standards used to judge one's majority identity cannot come from one group or the other. Some compromise or middle ground needs to be developed. Feelings of guilt or anger that have motivated the person to identify with one or the other group are dysfunctional. The person no longer denies that he or she is in majority group, but there is a reduction of the defensiveness and guilt associated with being the part of majority group.
Majority person at this stage experiences a sense of self-fulfillment with regard to his/her racial/cultural identity. A non-racist majority identity begins to emerge. Exploring its own culture and those aspects that are non-exploitative and self-affirming are an intimate aspect of this stage. The person no longer denies personal responsibility for perpetuating racism, but tends not to be immobilized by guilt or prompted into rash acts by anger.
There is increased knowledge of sociopolitical influences as they affect race relations, increased appreciation for cultural diversity, and an increased social commitment toward eradication of racism.