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The chaos theory of careers posits that due to the complexity of factors influencing career development in the 21st century, traditional approaches to career counseling should be avoided (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022). The chaos theory also suggests that career counselors are able to help clients with career choices by examining their clients’ patterns of behavior over time. However, the theory does not investigate or evaluate the reasons as to why clients may have formed specific patterns of behavior.
One strength of the chaos theory of career development is that it aptly addresses the 21st century career landscape (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022). It also uses the convergent perspective to highlight objectivity in a client’s stable traits and characteristics. During this process, known as the psychology of possession, a counselor espousing the chaos theory uses a career assessment to assist the client in identifying traits such as aptitude and interests.
While the chaos theory of careers has many theoretical strengths, it has weaknesses as well. One such weakness is the theory’s failure to appropriately address and thoughtfully consider the client’s worldview. In order to display competency as a multicultural and social justice counselor, counselors must acquire culturally responsive application skills so that they can apply knowledge of multicultural and social justice theories while working with marginalized and privileged clients (Hays & Erford, 2018). By doing so, counselors are able to assist clients in identifying “assumptions, attitudes, values, belief, biases, social identities, social group statuses, and experiences with power, privilege, and oppression” that may have shaped the client’s worldview (p. 595).
A client’s worldview heavily contributes to a client’s belief system, which subsequently produces established patterns of behavior (Hays & Erford, 2018). Therefore, the chaos theory should be expanded and revised so that it properly examines a client’s worldview, in an effort to become more inclusive of the development experiences of a diverse spectrum of people.
Jesus gives us a great example of the importance that should be placed on considering another’s worldview during His encounter with a Samaritan woman (New International Version Bible, 1995, John 4:1-26). Jesus sought to first understand the Samaritan woman’s worldview before sharing any prescriptive course of action. As evidenced throughout John 4, the Samaritan woman’s words reveal her wounds, a direct result of social identity, power, privilege and oppression that she had experienced throughout her life (John 4:9). As God incarnate, Christ inherently possessed supernatural understanding of others’ worldviews. Seeking to understand how clients’ worldviews may have contributed to their wounding, and subsequent behavior patterns, is requisite to culturally responsive counseling, yet is missing from the chaos theory.
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References
Hays, D. & Erford, B. (2023). Developing multicultural counseling competencies: A systems approach (4th ed.). Pearson.
New International Version Bible. (1991). New International Version Bible Online https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-Internat… (Original work published 1978).
Niles, S. & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2022). Career development interventions (6th ed.). Pearson.
