All the World Is Not a Stage: Emerging Contextualist Themes in Counseling and Development

Abstract

Classical stage‐based theories of human development, drawn from organismic worldviews, possess many shortcomings when extended to counseling applications. In attempting to reduce development to linear, hierarchical sequences, these theories fail to account for the interactional nature of change processes and implicitly pathologize developmental diversity. Responding to these shortcomings, counselors are turning to contextualist models of development that emphasize process over outcome. In this article I review key assumptions of contextualism, as embodied in social role theory and the life‐span developmental tradition, highlighting relevant theory and research. I propose that two vital forces within current counseling—constructivism and interactional counseling—are animated by contextualist notions of development. Specific implications of contextualism for future counseling research and practice are outlined.

Development and initial validation of the Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale--Racial Diversity Form.

“…Although criticized for their linear and hierarchical sequences that fail to explain the interactional nature of change processes (Steenbarger, 1991), these stage models represent important functions performed by counselors throughout the counseling process.…”

“…Based on their ratings and suggestions as well as further review of the literature, the original items were either deleted or revised, and new items were added. Although classical stage-based counseling theories (e.g., Burke, 1992) were useful in generating initial items for the MCSE-RD to cover the entire counseling process, these theories have been criticized for their emphasis on linearity (Steenbarger, 1991). Some consultants also pointed out that some skills were required throughout the course of counseling, which made it difficult to fit them into just one stage or category.…”

Developing conceptions of racism among young white adults in the context of cultural diversity coursework

“…However, in accordance with contemporary contextualist and domain specificity theories in developmental psychology (Feldman, 1980;Rogoff, 1990;Steenbarger, 1991), the sequences of concepts or perspectives resulting from cognitive construction are not taken here as universal "stages" in which the form of new ideas and the direction of development are fixed across individuals and contexts. Instead, the process of constructing meaning is understood to be highly context-specific.…”

Placing Our Counseling Texts in Context: A Reply to Lyddon

“…To view psychological processes in themselves as organismic or contextualist is to commit a category error; it is the viewing subject-in this case the theorist-who interprets processes organismically or contextually. Lyddon (1995) most differed from my stance (Steenbarger, 1991), however, in his doubt that "contextualism may be a viable alternative to organicism for the purposes of understanding developmental processes" (p. 515). He cited an avowed contextualist (Lerner, 1986) in suggesting "that the dispersive nature of contextualism does not readily lend itself to the derivation of a theory of development" (p. 5).…”