Transformative Consciousness

Abstract

This paper outlines the development of the Transformative Consciousness (TC) of Oppression and Privilege (COAP) Scale created to address the conceptual and measurement limitations of the critical consciousness (CC) construct. Unlike prior CC measures, this scale was developed for the general population, integrates identities that are oppressed and privileged, incorporates the social-ecological framework, assesses cognitions, and attempts to reduce the impact of social desirability bias. Following DeVellis’ (2003) scale development process and Rubio and colleague’s (2003) process for content validity, this paper presents: a review of CC measurement literature and the lack of standardized conceptualization and measurement tools; an overview of TC theory; the COAP scale development process; and, a content validity study of COAP including quantitative and qualitative methods. An outgrowth of the first author’s conceptualization of Transformative Consciousness, the domain-specific and content validated COAP scale demonstrates a unique scaling method combining vignettes, sentence completions, rank ordering of response options, and scoring of ordering patterns. Limitations of the COAP scale and opportunities for future research are discussed.

Keywords

• Critical consciousness
• scale development
• oppression
• white privilege
• anti-racism