Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 from the Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development by Duane Brown is based on Theories and Application of Contextualism and Chaos Theory to Careers. There were 2 contextualist theories discussed in this chapter. The 2 theories that I will elaborate on are considered to be postmodern theories based on positivist philosophy (Brown, D., 2007).

Contextualist Theory by Young, Valach, and Collin

For Young, Valach, and Collin contextualism is the process of weaving parts of one’s contexts into the structure of the self. For example, observing individuals interacting with their families, friends, community, etc. This is a never ending process because individuals continuously interact with others.  The theorist say that the self is a never ending, goal directed pattern that must be understood in the present form. Regarding this theory, counselors should be trying to understand clients as they experience their environment and try to make meaning of their experiences. Young mentions that actions should be taking during the career development process to help guide clients. He breaks down action into 3 parts; observable behavior, the internal processes that cannot be observed, and the meaning or results as interpreted by individuals and others who observe the action. The author then goes on to mention that interpretation is an essential aspect of career counseling and it occurs in 2 levels; the present context and the anticipated context of the future. As counselors we should be helping to make sense of our clients experiences. Then as counselors we should be turning those interpretations into constructs and then into themes (Brown, D., 2007).

Career Construction Theory by Savickas

Regarding this theory Savicka decides to use terms such as identity narrative and life portrait instead of lifestyle. As a theorist he believes that life themes are interpretations of our clients stories and early recollections starting at age 4. He insists that the construction of one self occurs through a reflective process, that is thinking about the self, and interpreting thoughts as they occur. Savicka has come up with 3 conceptualizations of self, the first one being objective self. This conceptualization is observable, measured, and can be compared. The subjective self is when a client acts on their own goals, develops a data set about self and careers, and makes decisions. Lastly, there is the project self which compared to an unstable work structure and digital revolution. Savicka emphasizes that the self-starts to develop when children start to model others such as their parents or teachers.  Lastly, he poses that “adaptiveness" is the ability to negotiate the events of one’s life, is the result of the interplay among the skill sets developed by the individual as they play out across the 4 dimensions of the model” (Brown, D., 2007).

Conclusion

This chapter mentions 2 contextualist theories that are somewhat different. Young’s theory is based on observing clients while Savicka’s theory is focused more on identity and the self. Either way each theory is intended to understand an individual and what makes up their identity.

Reference

Brown, D. (2007). Career information, career counseling, and career development.