HOW THIS THEORY APPLIES TO AURELIO’S CHRONOLOGICAL JOURNEY
The Mentor's Identity Formation Inventory
The Theory of Identity Engagement. According to Julio Garcia and Geoffrey Cohen, two prominent social psychologists, it is important to those of us who work on the front lines of education and youth development that we understand that students often go through a number of developmental stages stages before they’re ready to fully engage in learning. For students of color especially, two prominent stages are “vigilance” and “threat appraisal.” Before he could allow himself to jump into a new situation, he needed to be reasonably assured that would be safe.
Often it takes an intervention of some kind—from a talk with a school counselor to formal counseling and therapy—for a student to be able to work through this overly defensive mindset to feel free enough to take an active and open approach to learning.
Now, let's apply this theory to Aurelio's Journey.
Aurelio’s Early Years. So far, so good. There was no need for Aurelio to be super- vigilant, nor to anticipate any potential threats. His home, his school and his neighborhood all felt safe to him. But that was about to change.
The Middle School Years. In middle school Aurelio became more and more on guard, so much so that he became quite skilled at sussing out potential danger. The abuse of his father and his subsequent removal from the home certainly rose to an actual threat, leaving him with invisible wounds that would prevent him from trusting other men in his life for quite some time. If he were in middle school today, he might be diagnosed with three of the ten Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’S)—physical abuse, psychological abuse and a mother treated violently. (See Appendix A for a full listing of ACE’s.). The same might be said of his daily encounters with gang territories on his way to and from school.
His daily encounters with his insensitive teacher also raised Aurelio’s stress levels, but in a different way. While he felt threatened by the tone of class discussions, he found himself unable to confront it, for the biases of his teacher were just too implicit and too difficult to nail down with any degree of certainty. And that’s what made the whole experience so insidious. It left him immobilized and in a state of limbo. It also seemed to negate the good interactions he had with all of his other teachers.
In middle school Aurelio experienced many actual threats. As a result, he became quite skilled in appraising them, trusting those pangs of anxiety within him that would prevent him from fully engaging. The sheer number of such appraisals kept him on the sidelines, a logical and expected adaptation. But this process of adaptation in the aggregate left him feeling insecure and disengaged. It also set off within him higher levels of cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), which would eat away at him—literally—over months and years—leaving him in a state of near exhaustion and forming in him a negative self-image that would eventually become his identity.
For Aurelio, who had experienced a pattern of prejudice and low-expectations, he found himself in a heightened state of vigilance more often than not. In his case, this was both healthy and adaptive, even though it could on occasion cloud his judgment. Just one such encounter could throw him off for days on end, a “time-situational” channel that becomes recursive, that is “a cycle of repeated steps or outcomes, each based on the result of the one before.” And, by the time Aurelio finished middle school, the cumulative effect of his guarded moments and daily threat appraisals was exhaustion. By the time he finished high school, he was far less drained. He remained appropriately vigilant, but the actual threat appraisals were greatly reduced, as were actual threats. And by the time he finished college, he was on firm emotional and social footing, not to mention the recipient of a superb liberal education, positioning him to enter the workplace well prepared.
In middle school Aurelio experienced not one or two isolated threats but many. As a result, he became quite skilled in appraising them, trusting those pangs of anxiety within him that would prevent him from fully engaging. The sheer number of such appraisals kept him on the sidelines, a logical and expected adaptation. But this process of adaptation in the aggregate left him feeling insecure and disengaged. It also set off within him higher levels of cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), which would eat away at him—literally—over months and years—leaving him in a state of near exhaustion and forming in him a negative self-image that would eventually become his identity.
Often it takes an intervention of some kind—from a talk with a school counselor to formal counseling and therapy—for a student to be able to work through this overly defensive mindset to feel free enough to take an active and open approach to learning.
Since Aurelio was constantly bullied, he found himself super-vigilant with other students, real threats indeed, and that contributed to his tendency to retreat into his own shell. And like his daily encounters with the insensitive teacher, the effects of this trauma would spill over into the rest of his life and color nearly all his experiences.
Over time Aurelio would come to trust his gut. These stressful experiences, and his reactions to them, created a pattern that had profound and formative effect on him. Slowly and inexorably his journey was becoming one of wounds that might never heal, a story of dreams deferred that left him withered, like a “raisin in the sun.”
The High School Years. In high school Aurelio was on guard much of the time, but this vigilance began to subside over time. Moreover, his state of vigilance seldom turned into actual threats, real or perceived.
The specter of his abusive dad still hovered over him, surfacing at unexpected moments. It would bring to his awareness some of the other ways he have experienced trauma and neglect—perhaps contributing a low grade and invisible depression that pediatricians call “dysthymia.” Another stressor, crossing gang territories, was now in the rear view mirror, although some of his old friends were being actively recruited. Did he come into contact with any racist teachers? No. That was a huge relief. And virtually all the adults in his life served a positive role models and proactive mentors.
Perhaps the greatest positive influence in his life was his “home-away-from-home,” the YES Scholars “clubhouse” which served as a safe haven, especially in those frequent moments when he felt alienated from his wealthy classmates and when he was abandoned by his friends in his neighborhood. Indeed, it was also a safe haven for his mom and his grandparents.
All of this led to a more stable sense of well-being. His default mode of perpetual vigilance was being “disconfirmed” on a more regular basis, evolving into new and more productive habits—becoming more trusting and more open. Still, he experienced great discomfort —and vigilance—whenever he found himself in the homes of his more affluent friends.
The College Years. In college he became increasingly even less vigilant, and the threat appraisals, to the extent they continued to exist, were limited to his performance in the classroom. That’s why it was so important for Aurelio to get off to such a positive start with his calculus professor, who viewed him as an individual, not as a representative of his cultural group, and this went a long way to developing an ease and sense of trust. While he took great pride in his cultural roots and participated in the college’s Latino Center, he was beginning to put his identity as a mixed-race young man into a larger perspective.
Because Aurelio found his encounter with his professor to be safe territory, he did not move into Garcia and Cohen’s second stage of identity engagement, the “threat appraisal” stage, at least for now. That’s not to say he didn’t experience a whole slew of unsatisfactory encounters with others within the college. In these particular situations where his “threat appraisal” response was triggered, it sucked out what seemed to be an unusual amount of emotional energy.
Aurelio’s initial wariness and skepticism are normal, even healthy and “adaptive.” That said, since he found his professor to be authentic and empathic, his default position — being “on guard” — quickly yielded to a buy-in of sorts. His initial set of biases was “disconfirmed.” In other words, for a moment he felt that his professor viewed him as an individual, not as some representative stereotype of his cultural group. His identity as some Latino was irrelevant.
Did the specter of his abusive dad still hover over him? Yes, but he was able to avail himself of the resources at the university’s health service to ameliorate the effects of his early traumas and neglect. Was his “home-away-from-home,” the Los Angeles Community Scholars “clubhouse” still a safe haven? Yes. For while he no longer could attend the regular meetings, he reported in every two weeks for all four years on the phone with his mentor.
All was not perfect. Aurelio still believed in some corner of his soul that he didn’t belong, nor was he truly legitimate. As graduation approached, he found himself having to shake off those irrational thoughts that he might always remain an outsider and an imposter.
Patterns and Cumulative Effects of Vigilance and Threats. By the time Aurelio finished middle school, the cumulative effect of his guarded moments and daily threat appraisals was exhaustion. By the time he finished high school, he was far less drained. He remained appropriately vigilant, but the actual threat appraisals were greatly reduced, as were actual threats. And by the time he finished college, he was on firm emotional and social footing, not to mention the recipient of a superb liberal education, positioning him to enter the workplace well prepared.
Into the Workplace. Aurelio is now in his first job in Los Angeles, working as an AmeriCorps member for a nonprofit that focuses on immigration rights. The idealism that his teachers encouraged high school was now serving as the fuel that is energizing his career.
The Mentor's Identity Formation Inventory
The Theory of Identity Engagement. According to Julio Garcia and Geoffrey Cohen, two prominent social psychologists, it is important to those of us who work on the front lines of education and youth development that we understand that students often go through a number of developmental stages stages before they’re ready to fully engage in learning. For students of color especially, two prominent stages are “vigilance” and “threat appraisal.” Before he could allow himself to jump into a new situation, he needed to be reasonably assured that would be safe.
- Stage One: “Vigilance.” Vigilance is a self-protecting inner mechanism that any young person employs when encountering a new situation. For Aurelio, who had experienced a pattern of prejudice and low-expectations, more often than not he found himself on guard. On one level, this was healthy and adaptive, even though it could on occasion cloud his judgment. For, before he could allow himself to jump into a new situation, he needed to be reasonably assured that would be safe. If so and with his fears “disconfirmed,” he could go about his business with confidence. If his fears were “confirmed,” then he would proceed into the second stage into “threat appraisal.”
- Stage Two: “Threat Appraisal.” If vigilance is “confirmed” and prejudice is validated, a second stage kicks in: “threat appraisal.” At this stage the young person has three major decisions to make: 1.) retreating into a shell and avoiding all such encounters; 2.) speaking out and confronting the perpetrator; and 3.) getting the assistance or intervention of a trusted adult.
Often it takes an intervention of some kind—from a talk with a school counselor to formal counseling and therapy—for a student to be able to work through this overly defensive mindset to feel free enough to take an active and open approach to learning.
Now, let's apply this theory to Aurelio's Journey.
Aurelio’s Early Years. So far, so good. There was no need for Aurelio to be super- vigilant, nor to anticipate any potential threats. His home, his school and his neighborhood all felt safe to him. But that was about to change.
The Middle School Years. In middle school Aurelio became more and more on guard, so much so that he became quite skilled at sussing out potential danger. The abuse of his father and his subsequent removal from the home certainly rose to an actual threat, leaving him with invisible wounds that would prevent him from trusting other men in his life for quite some time. If he were in middle school today, he might be diagnosed with three of the ten Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’S)—physical abuse, psychological abuse and a mother treated violently. (See Appendix A for a full listing of ACE’s.). The same might be said of his daily encounters with gang territories on his way to and from school.
His daily encounters with his insensitive teacher also raised Aurelio’s stress levels, but in a different way. While he felt threatened by the tone of class discussions, he found himself unable to confront it, for the biases of his teacher were just too implicit and too difficult to nail down with any degree of certainty. And that’s what made the whole experience so insidious. It left him immobilized and in a state of limbo. It also seemed to negate the good interactions he had with all of his other teachers.
In middle school Aurelio experienced many actual threats. As a result, he became quite skilled in appraising them, trusting those pangs of anxiety within him that would prevent him from fully engaging. The sheer number of such appraisals kept him on the sidelines, a logical and expected adaptation. But this process of adaptation in the aggregate left him feeling insecure and disengaged. It also set off within him higher levels of cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), which would eat away at him—literally—over months and years—leaving him in a state of near exhaustion and forming in him a negative self-image that would eventually become his identity.
For Aurelio, who had experienced a pattern of prejudice and low-expectations, he found himself in a heightened state of vigilance more often than not. In his case, this was both healthy and adaptive, even though it could on occasion cloud his judgment. Just one such encounter could throw him off for days on end, a “time-situational” channel that becomes recursive, that is “a cycle of repeated steps or outcomes, each based on the result of the one before.” And, by the time Aurelio finished middle school, the cumulative effect of his guarded moments and daily threat appraisals was exhaustion. By the time he finished high school, he was far less drained. He remained appropriately vigilant, but the actual threat appraisals were greatly reduced, as were actual threats. And by the time he finished college, he was on firm emotional and social footing, not to mention the recipient of a superb liberal education, positioning him to enter the workplace well prepared.
In middle school Aurelio experienced not one or two isolated threats but many. As a result, he became quite skilled in appraising them, trusting those pangs of anxiety within him that would prevent him from fully engaging. The sheer number of such appraisals kept him on the sidelines, a logical and expected adaptation. But this process of adaptation in the aggregate left him feeling insecure and disengaged. It also set off within him higher levels of cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), which would eat away at him—literally—over months and years—leaving him in a state of near exhaustion and forming in him a negative self-image that would eventually become his identity.
Often it takes an intervention of some kind—from a talk with a school counselor to formal counseling and therapy—for a student to be able to work through this overly defensive mindset to feel free enough to take an active and open approach to learning.
Since Aurelio was constantly bullied, he found himself super-vigilant with other students, real threats indeed, and that contributed to his tendency to retreat into his own shell. And like his daily encounters with the insensitive teacher, the effects of this trauma would spill over into the rest of his life and color nearly all his experiences.
Over time Aurelio would come to trust his gut. These stressful experiences, and his reactions to them, created a pattern that had profound and formative effect on him. Slowly and inexorably his journey was becoming one of wounds that might never heal, a story of dreams deferred that left him withered, like a “raisin in the sun.”
The High School Years. In high school Aurelio was on guard much of the time, but this vigilance began to subside over time. Moreover, his state of vigilance seldom turned into actual threats, real or perceived.
The specter of his abusive dad still hovered over him, surfacing at unexpected moments. It would bring to his awareness some of the other ways he have experienced trauma and neglect—perhaps contributing a low grade and invisible depression that pediatricians call “dysthymia.” Another stressor, crossing gang territories, was now in the rear view mirror, although some of his old friends were being actively recruited. Did he come into contact with any racist teachers? No. That was a huge relief. And virtually all the adults in his life served a positive role models and proactive mentors.
Perhaps the greatest positive influence in his life was his “home-away-from-home,” the YES Scholars “clubhouse” which served as a safe haven, especially in those frequent moments when he felt alienated from his wealthy classmates and when he was abandoned by his friends in his neighborhood. Indeed, it was also a safe haven for his mom and his grandparents.
All of this led to a more stable sense of well-being. His default mode of perpetual vigilance was being “disconfirmed” on a more regular basis, evolving into new and more productive habits—becoming more trusting and more open. Still, he experienced great discomfort —and vigilance—whenever he found himself in the homes of his more affluent friends.
The College Years. In college he became increasingly even less vigilant, and the threat appraisals, to the extent they continued to exist, were limited to his performance in the classroom. That’s why it was so important for Aurelio to get off to such a positive start with his calculus professor, who viewed him as an individual, not as a representative of his cultural group, and this went a long way to developing an ease and sense of trust. While he took great pride in his cultural roots and participated in the college’s Latino Center, he was beginning to put his identity as a mixed-race young man into a larger perspective.
Because Aurelio found his encounter with his professor to be safe territory, he did not move into Garcia and Cohen’s second stage of identity engagement, the “threat appraisal” stage, at least for now. That’s not to say he didn’t experience a whole slew of unsatisfactory encounters with others within the college. In these particular situations where his “threat appraisal” response was triggered, it sucked out what seemed to be an unusual amount of emotional energy.
Aurelio’s initial wariness and skepticism are normal, even healthy and “adaptive.” That said, since he found his professor to be authentic and empathic, his default position — being “on guard” — quickly yielded to a buy-in of sorts. His initial set of biases was “disconfirmed.” In other words, for a moment he felt that his professor viewed him as an individual, not as some representative stereotype of his cultural group. His identity as some Latino was irrelevant.
Did the specter of his abusive dad still hover over him? Yes, but he was able to avail himself of the resources at the university’s health service to ameliorate the effects of his early traumas and neglect. Was his “home-away-from-home,” the Los Angeles Community Scholars “clubhouse” still a safe haven? Yes. For while he no longer could attend the regular meetings, he reported in every two weeks for all four years on the phone with his mentor.
All was not perfect. Aurelio still believed in some corner of his soul that he didn’t belong, nor was he truly legitimate. As graduation approached, he found himself having to shake off those irrational thoughts that he might always remain an outsider and an imposter.
Patterns and Cumulative Effects of Vigilance and Threats. By the time Aurelio finished middle school, the cumulative effect of his guarded moments and daily threat appraisals was exhaustion. By the time he finished high school, he was far less drained. He remained appropriately vigilant, but the actual threat appraisals were greatly reduced, as were actual threats. And by the time he finished college, he was on firm emotional and social footing, not to mention the recipient of a superb liberal education, positioning him to enter the workplace well prepared.
Into the Workplace. Aurelio is now in his first job in Los Angeles, working as an AmeriCorps member for a nonprofit that focuses on immigration rights. The idealism that his teachers encouraged high school was now serving as the fuel that is energizing his career.