Definition of the Problem

Definition of the Problem

            In the case study, ” A First-Year Student’s Struggle With Identity” by Kim C. O’Halloran and Megan E. Delaney; Kevin, the Director of Residence Life at Myers College is faced with mediating the disputes between Jenna, Susan and Susan’s mother. Kevin has to decide if homosexuality is wrongdoing or if both Jenna and Susan’s mother are wrong. The focal point of struggle is Jenna’s prejudicial perspective towards homosexuality, which hurts Susan, who is a lesbian. On the other hand, Susan’s mother blames Myers College for her daughter’s sexuality.

As a Director of Residence Life, Kevin is faced with a dilemma. The conflict between Jenna and Susan results from the different cognition of sexual orientation. Jenna believes in heterosexuality. Susan is also influenced by heterosexuality privilege and cannot positively solve a normal emotional requirement.

Additionally, there is no standard system or procedure to unify all people’s concept of sexual preference. Kevin tries to understand Susan better to amicably solve the conflict of heterosexuality against homosexuality without going public, but he faces backlash from the Student Counseling Service.

Environmental and Cultural Elements of the Case

Myers College is a small and liberal arts college, with humanities and social science majors. It is located in an affluent and conservative suburb. Majority of its 3,000 students live within the campus residence halls.

Myers College relies on loyal alumni’s donations which are part of its scholarship program. The college uses the donations to offset their high tuition fees and help various diverse students in financial support.

Because of the institution’s relatively conservative culture, Kevin, Joseph, Jenna, Susan and Susan’s mother are stakeholders in this case.

For Jenna, she has the right to express her opinion about homosexuality, even if it might jeopardize her friendship with her roommate. Susan also has the right to choose her sexual orientation and figure out who she is. Susan’s mother is a responsible parent, pays her tuition fees and upkeep, and is, therefore, concerned about her daughter’s sexual orientation. The most significant stakeholder in the case is Myers College, whose directors are Kevin, Fiona, Joseph and Jack. As the directors of the college, they must protect the college’s interest and reputation against negative publicity that might face the college if the case goes public.

Detailed Course of Action

As a Director of Residence Life at Myers College, I will focus on the conflict between Jenna and Susan. After solving their friendship issues, I will deal with other people’s concerns and strive for a good outcome for all stakeholders as the next step.

First, I would meet Jenna and Susan separately to know each person’s point of argument. It is an effective way to understand their emotions and opinions from two different angles. Although I respect different perspectives from Jenna and Susan, I still believe that they all have an impact on the majority theory. In the 1970s, women’s movements and models were born to address the plight of the female gender. As feminism developed, homosexuality as a kind of mental illness gradually led to the development of homosexual identity models, including gay, lesbian and bisexual identities in 1974 (Patton, Renn, Guido & Quaye, 2016). However, the social identity development was followed by the construction of privilege, oppression, and multiple identities during the past two decades. Moreover, scholars began to pay attention to diverse culture, female rights, gender issues and other minority groups like the LGBTQ community. The privilege and oppression still affect most people (Patton, Renn, Guido & Quaye, 2016). The majority often create a negative environment to hinder the development of the minority.

Heterosexual privilege occupies a dominant position, and it influences Jenna’s attitude towards the homosexuality group. Although Jenna is a good roommate and friend, she does not realize that her negative stance on lesbianism may be as a result of prejudice. I would discuss the heterosexual privilege with Jenna to improve her perception of LGBTQ community.

Next, I would try to communicate with Susan and ask her if I could get some valid information from the Student Counseling Service, which would help in improving her relationships with Jenna in a positive way. As a student said, “So much in our culture assumes your straightness” (Mueller & Cole, 2009, p. 330). But I want to let Susan understand that she shouldn’t be ashamed of belonging to minority sexuality group.

Thereafter, I would discuss with Fiona if I could get permission from Susan and share what I know from Jenna if we could make some efforts to help Jenna to understand Susan’s emotion better. Besides, I would meet with Joseph and Susan’s mother together to see if there is any chance that Susan’s mother could support her daughter’s choice. I believe the best way to get Susan’s mother under this issue is by encouraging Susan to talk to her mother about her sexual orientation openly.

Finally, I would suggest that Jack add some diversity courses to increase students’ and parents’ awareness of heterosexual privilege.

The short term goal of the courses is to improve the heterosexual privilege and do away with the prejudice of homosexuality. Communication, listening and understanding are approaches to have rational knowledge of an unfamiliar emotion and help minority students have a sense of belonging. The long term goal of the course is to create an association to deal with sexual orientation issues. The association will help students to face themselves with special emotion requirements and have a true identity about their sexual orientations. The members of the association should involve people with a diverse population and different sexual orientation like gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual, but none of them should be prejudicial. Jack is in charge of the association. Fiona, as a member, will be tasked with improving students’ negative emotions and mental health.

Purposeful Rationale of the Plan’s Intended Outcomes

As a Director of Residence Life, I would create a community for the LGBTQ students. College should provide a safe environment for students to explore and express their sexual identity and offer more space to LGBTQ students to solidify their sexual values, needs and attitudes without victimization (Patton, Renn, Guido & Quaye, 2016).

The model of sexual identity development and sexual identity development theory are appropriate for addressing this case. Myers College is located in a conservative town, so the traditional perspective of sexual orientation and identity profoundly impact on the perception of Jenna and Susan’s mother. Besides, Susan is afraid of identity as a lesbian because of the hostility from heterosexuals on Campus. To solve the conflict between the different concepts is using the model of sexual identity development. The unitive model is fit for all sexual identities and breaks the hypothesis that heterosexuals do not have the experience of the process of sexual identity (Patton, Renn, Guido & Quaye, 2016). The theory and model indicate how people experience sexual identity development. It would improve Jenna and Susan’ mother’s understanding of Susan’s sexual identity as a homosexual.

Reference

Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido, F. M., & Quaye, S. J. (2016). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (3rded.). Jossey-Bass.

Mueller, J. A., & Cole, J. C. (2009). A qualitative examination of heterosexual consciousness among college students. Journal of College Student Development , 50 (3), 320– 336