0.5 Mirci, p., & Hensley, p. (april 2011). transformational adult  (Page 5/9)

Two different ways of coping with disequilibrium emerged. One involved solitude and such activities as running, hiking, walking, and other forms of exercise. Alicia reported, “There were times I needed to get away, and so I would go to a hotel and be by myself.” Journaling and silent contemplation were used. The other involved interacting with other people. Marjorie illustrated this need to talk with others, “I reflected inwardly but needed to process all of this outwardly by talking to others such as classmates.” This suggests that a dimension for future study may focus on perceptions of participants as being introverts or extraverts based on Jungian personality typologies (Cranton, 2006).

Eight of the Caucasians reported ‘white privilege’ as being a disorienting issue. Alice stated, “I grew up poor. I never considered myself privileged. Someone asked me the color of a Band-Aid. It was flesh-toned for white people, and then I understood.” All participants began to realize, as Rosie stated, “The societal system is set up to advantage and privilege whites and is reinforced through the myth of meritocracy.” According to Luke,

As a white male, I didn’t know about this concept and how it functions within the societal system around issues of power and authority… Now that I am aware, I acknowledge its existence and my relationships with people who are not white and male are qualitatively different.

Recipients of white privilege and entitlement reported feeling guilt, shame, and embarrassment. They learned, as shared by an African-American student, that “marginalized groups have to spend a great deal of their lives trying to strategize on how to maneuver through a world of white privileged people.”

Another disorienting issue was heterosexism. It challenged people to consider their religious orientations. John revealed the dilemma: “My religious upbringing says homosexuality is wrong, and I want to learn more about queer theory to respect other people’s rights.” Nancy said, “Gay and lesbian students were invisible to me; my religion says sexual orientation is a choice, and I hadn’t previously thought about the needs of these students.”

Social justice is prophetic in that institutional tenets may be challenged. Participants struggled in challenging their Christian beliefs. Some adopted a new meaning perspective in their conceptualization of God. They gave primacy to the gospels and primacy of universal love. Some also changed religious affiliations and joined churches opposed to heterosexism and sexism. Donna continued to struggle with her religious upbringing while she also came to the following realization: “Although I find it liberating to find love and companionship with the opposite sex, I realize this ideology has not led to the freedom for those who find love and companionship within the same sex.”

While some continued to struggle with the issue of heterosexism, they opposed it. In this sense, they differed from a minority of their colleagues who seemed to choose which forms of oppression they would oppose, which they would ignore, and which they would support based on religious ideology. This was reflected in a statement made by a student who had not advanced to candidacy and was, therefore, ineligible for inclusion in the study, “I don’t believe we need to be that inclusive.”