“TAKING THE EMPATHY TO AN ACTIVIST STATE”: ALLY DEVELOPMENT AS CONTINUOUS CYCLES OF CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING AND ACTION

Abstract

Allies are individuals who take action to end oppression in areas in which they have privilege. Although research on ally development is growing, prior research has often conceptualized allies in a binary fashion (privileged or oppressed), focused on only one specific area of privilege (e.g., race, as in White privilege), been limited to one specific context of development (e.g., college), or examined influences rather than developmental processes. We used a constructivist grounded theory approach to address the question “What is the process of being and becoming an ally?” Through a constant comparative analysis approach, we analyzed 28 semi-structured depth interviews with community participants age 26 to 73 from diverse racial, social status, and sexual identities. Results indicated that developing as allies was a lifelong process, with iterative cycles of understandings and action. Understandings of privilege and oppression were developed through education and relational learning and included understandings of concepts and systems, personal positionality, and cognitive and emotional empathy. These understandings contributed a sense of capability and multiple motivations (responsibility and integrity, relational connectedness, and personal healing and growth) that moved participants into action. Taking action also involved an iterative cycle, including active processes of deciding whether and how to intervene; action engagement with people who are privileged as well as those who are oppressed; and evaluating action. This second cycle catalyzed processes of seeking further understandings. Findings from this study have implications for future research examining ally development across the lifespan and developing interventions to foster ally development to advance social justice.