The Aetiology of Stress Upon the Adult Learner of Afro-American Descent
The aetiology of stress upon the adult learner of Afro-American descent
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The aetiology of stress upon the adult learner of Afro-American descent: its effect upon retention in an adult education programme
Emilye Hunter Fields, Institute for Cultural Understanding andNorthern Illinois University
Abstract
Stressful familial and household settings can impact negatively upon the retention of students in adult education programmes. Marginal populations such as those in the United States among lower-economic, Afro-American segments of this society frequently do not complete adult education programmes due to the powerful deterrents caused by social and economic stress.
Introduction
This discussion will focus upon the case of a named, Elizabeth J. who is forty-seven years of age, a grandmother, a widow, and not physically well, yet Elizabeth is a student in an adult education programme. Further, Elizabeth is a good student, a committed student and a student hopeful for a future life in a broader society. Elizabeth cannot accept that life does not hold much for her at this time. She believes she still has a quality life ahead of her because she has not had the life she planned for herself as a younger woman.
Yet, what are her possibilities of success? Can the many constraints upon Elizabeth’s time, the many stresses in her life, the various problems which plague her, daily, be held in abeyance while Elizabeth completes her education?
Through Elizabeth’s case, this paper will present a predictor model of adult education success which can be useful in determining the causes and potential resolution of stress and its related syndromes which work against student success. In addition, implication for the usage of the model in programme design will also be presented.
Symbiosis, a biological model[1], will be discussed on the basis of its potential utilisation in the social sciences. The transference of this model demonstrates the insights to be derived from the interdisciplinary utilisation of established models between one science and another. In so transferring the model, one gains the knowledge base of an established field, thus uncovering new ideation for the recipient environment.
Predictor model of success in an adult education programme
Our plan is two-fold: we will propose a model which will predict stressful familial relations and we will utilise this model as an adult education predictor model of success. This adult education model provides information which my help students succeed even in the face of the stress so prevalent in today's world.
Socialising a biological construct
The biological construct: symbiosis, lends itself to application in a social science context. Particular to symbiosis are the dependencies formed by living organism in which they are understood to require each other to greater or lesser degrees in their survival.
Figure 1 Cheng’s Model
Symbiosis: A Biological Construct
In human societies, we human beings, being organic and of the animal kingdom, certainly do also have symbiotic relationships; however, ours are both conscious and instinctual. The concept of sociality refers to the conscious process of interacting with other human beings. In doing so, humansmay build dependency relationships. The use of symbiosis in this context will be as a socialised model borrowed from biology (which I term socio-symbiosis).
As a vehicle for illustration of this socialised, biological model, I will discuss the case history of a middle-aged, Afro-American, adult education student, Elizabeth J. With Elizabeth's case, it will be demonstrated that human relationships mirror the biological relationships made between organism in nature. By paralleling symbiosis with a social equivalent, we discover a new diagnostic model applicable to adult education.
Elizabeth J. - Personal History
Elizabeth J., age 47 is a middle-aged, Afro-American Elizabeth is under doctor’s care and is being treated for nervousness and fatigue, inability to sleep, and loss of appetite. She is receiving various forms of medication for her physical conditions. Elizabeth lives with her son and has threatened to move ‘back South’ if she cannot find same peace in her son’s home. When Elizabeth was 15, she took the proverbial trip to the ‘North’ to better herself. Although accompanied by her aunt, Elizabeth was essentially ‘put on her own’. This meant, in 1955, either the ‘streets’ or the ‘church’. Elizabeth was encouraged to choose the church.
Stress and related factors surfaced in daily social interchanges within the family, on the job, in school, on the streets and so on during Elizabeth’s life from the age of 15 until the present. Now that Elizabeth is 47 and living with her son, she feels she has earned the right to give something to her own life. Even though she is loved, she is seen by her family as having little ability to add to the family’s survival since she has no apparent relationship to the everyday work-a-day world of the breadwinners.
Yet, a closer and perhaps different inquiry into her relationship to the family’s economic structure reveals not only her real place in the economic scheme of things but points up her great contribution. Elizabeth is stressed and is in constant conflict within the family because like other viable members of the family, she feels she has a ‘say’ but is unacknowledged as a policy maker.
Elizabeth’s case is representative of hundreds of thousands of Afro-American women. In addition to a life overflowing with family responsibility, Elizabeth has been attending an adult education programme for last six months. Will she complete it?
The adult education programme is in a small alternative school in a suburban environment. The suburb is mainly Afro-American (80%) lower and middle class economically. Elizabeth’s life in the city is full. She attends church, works in a senior citizen’s programme as a volunteer and as well takes care of her family responsibility.
Can Elizabeth control the stresses in her life or will the stress of so much activity which requires such a high level of output cause her to leave her educational programme? With the hope of determining the possibility of Elizabeth’s success, and to better support her in her quest to educate herself the socio-symbiotic model will be utilised as a predictor model of success in her adult education programme. What is socio-symbiosis?
Socio-symbiosis is an analytical tool which aids in looking at the socio-economic relationships in the family. it has been developed from its biological counterpart, symbiosis. The definition of symbiosis is ‘living together’ in close dependency upon another. The tool, socio-symbiosis, will be useful in the analysis of econo-family group relations in Elizabeth’s extended black family.
In functioning, extended families where parents are frequently unavailable for the small but disastrous crises, one soon sees that productive operation of the family may depend entirely upon the least attractive (i.e. in terms of economic usefulness) senior member of the family who can either prevent or handle these daily problem. This will be illustrated in the discussion to follow as will the following terms: phoresism, communalism, parasitism, and mutualism, (after Cheng’s usage of the terms in his biological model.) However, the definitions used here will be the socialised equivalency of the biological term .
Phoresism. Phoresis is a non-obligatory interaction on the part of at least one individual in the relationship. This individual feels no responsibility to the other and interacts with little interest in the other's survival. The symbol for the phoresic interaction is a circle. This symbol will become more important when placed with others in a family scheme. (See Figure 2).
Commensalism. In this relationship, individuals are said to ‘eat from the same table’ (the Greek linguistic definition of commensalism). We find the root of community, communal and so on in this term. In the system of socio-symbiosis, commensalism is a. goal-oriented relationship. Individuals ‘participate in the same goal’ or to interpret further, interact and work for the same purpose. A family that is held together by each individual doing his/her part is a commensalistic unit. The symbol for commensalism is a circle with two arrows. One arrow points towards the goal, another towards the person or persons operating within the commensalistic arrangement (see Figure 3).
Figure 2Figure 3
Parasitism and Mutualism. The last two relationships within the socio-symbiosis system are the parasitic and the mutualistic. In parasitism, one organism attempts to gain from another (i.e. take resources) without a return of the resource. One individual becomes the resource, the other the receiver of the resource, or one becomes the host, the other the parasite. The symbol for parasitism is the circle with one arrow leading out from the circle. This signifies that the parasite is going to a host for a resource. (See Figure 4).
Figure 4
In mutalism, the last of the relationships in this system of socio-symbiosis, the relationship is mutually agreed upon ‘using’ of each individual in the relationship. From another perspective, it is mutual parasitism, involving the use of each other’s individual resources or some pool of resources. The symbol for this component is the circle with two arrows. One arrow leads out, one arrow leads in, signifying that the mutalistic relationship always has a return or exchange of resources. (See Figure 5).
Figure 5
Principles of Symbiosis. Two principles which grow out of the socio-symbiosis analysis are:
Principle 1: The principle of fragility of the parasitic relationship. This principle is most important in predicting conflict and stress. A parasitic arrangement cannot work for long, because it is predicted on the unilateral extraction of resources. Within this context, the resourceful individual will ultimately rebel as the resource dwindles. When this happens, tension accumulates within the environment while the unsatisfied parasite attempts to realign the circumstances for new satisfaction.
Principle II: The principle of compound stress is illustrated by determining how burdened are the individuals who rely upon the already stressed individuals?
Elizabeth’s family in the North
In the North, living currently in the home of Elizabeth’s son are Elizabeth, the son, his wife and child and Elizabeth's 17-year old daughter. (See Figure 6).
Figure 6. Elizabeth's household in the North.
Elizabeth and her daughter are a distinct family unit.
Two provocateurs of stress have been discussed under the heading of principles of symbiosis. They are: (1) The principle of fragility and (2) the principle of compound stress. Both may be at the root of conflict in the family.
Elizabeth’s current life
Elizabeth had recently moved back to her son’s home from her own home in the South which she had lived In for only two years. Elizabeth’s extended family includes her sister, her sister's daughter and the daughter's two children who she left in the South. (See Figure 7). These individuals occupy Elizabeth’s property in Alabama.
Figure 7. Elizabeth's family in the South.
Elizabeth sends money home for the care of her property. Yet, Elizabeth’s property is slowly deteriorating. Even though Elizabeth realises how her money is being misused, she does not insist upon its proper usage ‘out of her good heart’. Since the son is unable to work, Elizabeth’s pension is also used by his family. This places Elizabeth under severe stress. Instead of relaxing in her later years, she has taken responsibility for the care of herself and all the members of her family, on a mere three hundred and fifty dollars a month, representing disability income and food stamps.
Yet, she receives little respect and almost no consideration from the members of her family. Elizabeth has hypertension, trouble with her eyes and some deafness. Her son treats her fairly well but mainly gripes all day about his plight. Elizabeth feels protective towards him as she always has. The son uses her money for alcohol and ‘dirty’ books. Despite this pressure, Elizabeth comes to adult education to learn to read better so that she can get a job!
Elizabeth feels used and yet needed at the same time. Her life contains the classical contradictory ingredients which causes hypertension in individuals. She is in an ‘untenable’ position; one she cannot endure and one she cannot leave.
If we apply Principle I, the principle of fragility of parasitic relationships, to this family construct, we see that Elizabeth’s sister and that branch of the family are completely parasitically dependent upon Elizabeth. This situation will naturally change since parasitic relations deteriorate. Principle II, the principle of compounded stress, shows Elizabeth’s son to be the second most stressed individual relying upon her. To all who may observe the scene, the son appears to have all the responsibility for supporting his family. Yet, it is clear, after a deeper analysis, that Elizabeth is the economic backbone of both families. She is the one who is under a continuous and unresolvable stress.
Social symbiosis as a tool for analysing family relationships works as a predictive device for surfacing, not only potentially stressful situations, but those which are the current cause for familial tension.
Figure 8. Elizabeth’s stress schema, an example of compound stress.
The following are factors which could aid programme designers in their appreciation of any stressed adult’s life.
Recommendations for adult education
Programme design:
1. incorporate quasi- to full case history approaches in developing student records, utilising the socio-symbiotic tool;
2. utilise placement instruments which consider comprehensively the skills developed by the adult in surviving in society, (which may not have academic characteristics);
3. understand the particular plight of Third World adults who do not use institutional supports with sophistication, but rather, rely upon individualistic, and personal contacts for resource (i.e. do not expect counselling programme and other services which are there to support the adult student to be used advantageously by the student without demonstrating to the student that those who operate then are socio-culturally sensitive);
4. design curricula which allow the student entrance and exit into the adult education programme, without penalty. In other words, curricula should allow auto-instructional, self-pacing rather than formalised beginning sequences and ending points, and
5. assume, when designing programme for marginal populations, that the burden of life may be so pressing upon the adult that to attend one’s adult education programme may be the only place the adult receives comfort, rest, nurturing and encouragement. If one makes this assumption and subsequently designs, within the curricula of the programme, ways by which the adult can begin to build community and authentic relationships with programme professionals, the chance for ‘retention to completion’ is greater for the adult.
Reproduced from 1988 Conference Proceedings, pp. 1
[1] Cheng (1969) Symbiosis