Abstract
The author in this article provides a book review of Rosemarie Rizzo Parse’s The Humanbecoming Paradigm: An Everchanging Horizon.
It is always refreshing to read another update of Parse’s humanbecoming paradigm. She is unquestionably one of the most creative and prolific scholars writing today. The 2021 edition is aptly given the subtitle An Everchanging Horizon (Parse, 2021), and the book delivers on this promise. Her inclusion of the Prefaces to the 1981, 1998, and 2014 editions (Parse, 1981, 1998, 2014) is historically significant, allowing the reader to track evolution over time in juxtaposition to the Preface to the 2021 edition, identifying what is preserved or consistent, what is changed, and what is new. She succinctly identifies the changes that have occurred in preparation for this new edition, with at least six major changes that readers would have to search through her writings since 2014 to find if not for this edition. Most welcome is her continuing emphasis on the centrality of the human being, whether singly or in groups, in all decision-making processes, and the importance of honoring personal beliefs of others without judging. Her tenets of dignity—namely, reverence, awe, betrayal, and shame—are in full display today in society.
Parse meticulously traces the evolution of the humanbecoming paradigm, with its roots in the basic human sciences rather than the natural sciences, the latter with the applied science view congruent with the medical model, and contrasts the totality and simultaneity worldviews or paradigms with her humanbecoming paradigm. The first figure in the book distills the humanbecoming paradigm in remarkably few words as “The nature of existence (humanuniverse, the ethos of humanbecoming, living quality), the investigative tradition (universal humanuniverse living experiences), sciencing (Parsesciencing and humanbecoming hermeneutic sciencing), and living the art of the humanbecoming paradigm (true presence, illuminating meaning, shifting rhythms, and inspiring anticipation)” (Parse, 2021, p. 9). Parse updates the figure provided in the 2014 edition contrasting the prevailing paradigms in nursing, totality, simultaneity, and humanbecoming to reflect the evolving nature of the latter. Throughout the book, the figures and tables she provides meaningfully elucidate the written content.
A major strength of the humanbecoming paradigm lies in Parse’s ever-evolving vision, which never loses its moorings from its scholarly foundation. Starting with Rogers’ science of unitary human beings and existential phenomenology, she traces the initial derivation of the assumptions underpinning humanbecoming. This alone is noteworthy as so many nurse theorists have failed to clearly identify the assumptions from which they started. Parse may well be unique in her exquisite, precise detailing of the ontology, epistemology, and methodologies that have evolved over time, and the trail she provides enhances understanding of these changes. She reiterates that the “humanbecoming paradigm is grounded in the human sciences and the nature of existence from this worldview consists of the assumptions, postulates, themes, and principles” (Parse, 2021, p. 60).
This new edition brings together in one place all of the new conceptualizations created since the publication of the 2014 edition. Of special note is the new languaging used to explicate humanbecoming sciencing, languaging that frees humanbecoming from the constraints imposed by language shared with other disciplines, indeed even with other nursing theories/models reflecting the totality and simultaneity worldviews/paradigms, further supporting the uniqueness of the humanbecoming paradigm. Again, she identifies the antecedents of humanbecoming sciencing that were developed in congruence with both the principles of humanbecoming and principles of inquiry, something not generally found in other nursing theories/models, which follow traditional research approaches and methods. The specific assumptions undergirding both Parsesciencing and humanbecoming hermeneutic sciencing are also specified, yet again illustrating the depths of Parse’s scholarship. Of particular interest are the examples provided using previously published studies that are here modified in accord with new languaging that beautifully and clearly depict the phases of each mode of inquiry. Esthetics and the importance of beauty are made explicit here, in the lyrical wording of humanbecoming, in the artistic expressions of living experiences in Parsesciencing and the use of the written word or art productions to further illuminate them, and in the many choices of literary art forms for humanbecoming hermeneutic sciencing.
Not a new point but still a cogent one is Parse’s assertion that living the art of humanbecoming is “the humanbecoming professionals’ way of being with individuals” in true presence (Parse, 2021, p. 117). The word practice, on the other hand, suggests “a continuing habit or exercise” and so is incompatible with humanbecoming (Parse, 2021, p. 117). “Living the art” makes explicit the reality of humanbecoming integral with people, not something they do out of habit or use only as they interact with others. It becomes who they are, wherever they are, not something donned in a healthcare or other setting as they would, for example, put on a uniform.
The idea of bearing witness without labelling or judging has long been a hallmark of humanbecoming true presence. In general, this is something everyone usually wants for themselves without always being able or willing to do the same with others. When one understands and lives true presence from the perspective of humanbecoming, what is illuminated for both oneself and others is that “living quality is a personal commitment cocreated with others” (Parse, 2021, p. 124). One’s own participation in personal humanbecoming becomes clearer as well as participating with others’ in their humanbecoming. In the humanbecoming paradigm, living the art in true presence means illuminating meaning, shifting rhythms, and inspiring anticipation. The last is a change from but flows from the earlier inspiring transcending. In her discussion, she explains that “Moving with the becoming visible-invisible becoming of the emerging now is a way of reaching the hopes and dreams that have been illuminated with the true presence” (Parse, 2021, p. 122), giving rise to all the imaged possibles for transforming. Living quality can only be enhanced by such anticipating of what might be in seeing new ways for moving forward, envisioning the everchanging horizon.
What was formerly known as the pre-mid-post-implementation evaluation design was reformulated in the 2014 edition as designing living-the-art projects and is discussed in 2021 minus the hyphens and with updated ideas. Because such projects do not contribute to the knowledge base of the humanbecoming paradigm, as Parse points out, they are quite appropriately featured at the end of the living the art chapter rather than in the sciencing humanbecoming chapter. Their value lies in highlighting what happens when the guiding framework used in any setting is humanbecoming, showing what emerges after the introduction of humanbecoming teaching-learning sessions and people experience living the art.
One of the most intriguing new chapters presents the humanbecoming concept inventing model, “an all-at-once nonlinear rationale-intuitive moment-to-moment birthing of novel conceptualizations” (Parse, 2021, p. 135). As such it is totally consistent with the humanbecoming paradigm as other traditional, linear forms of concept analysis are not. Thus, it presents an important avenue for creatively unfolding a concept in preparation for one of the humanbecoming sciencing modes. Once again, art is integral, as the “now-truth” (Parse, 2021, p. 138) of the concept couched in humanbecoming languaging is accompanied by an artistic representation of that concept. Her example clarifies the process for the reader.
Parse further shows applications of her humanbecoming paradigm with her updated descriptions of five additional models, family, community, leading-following, mentoring, and teaching-learning. Figures, tables, and brief examples enhance understanding of each. Choosing just one, given the context of American society today, it is intriguing to wonder how leading-following would be experienced and lived if every leadership situation was imbued first with a reverence for others, implicit in the humanbecoming paradigm, simultaneous with other aspects of humanuniverse dignity—namely, presence, existence, trust, worth, awe, betrayal, and shame. Everyone would benefit from such a perspective, gaining insights into self and others and formulating new visions for the future within the everchanging horizon. As Parse pointed out in her discussion of the mentoring model, equally applicable here, “insights are transformative moments in that they show familiar situations in new light, and individuals with insight cannot go back to seeing the familiar in the same way again. Venturing with the new . . . is shapeshifting new possibles” (Parse, 2021, p. 178).
In the 2014 edition, Parse presented a humanbecoming program plan for a master’s program. Here she presents one for a PhD program. Consistent with the way she has evolved the humanbecoming paradigm, she begins with the essentials, philosophy, aims of the program, conceptual framework, and the indicators that flow from the aims and framework. She differentiates indicators from traditional objectives in that they do not specify specific ways students are expected to perform but are more general, reflecting “the subjective nature of all humanbecoming teaching-learning evaluative processes” (Parse, 2021, p. 187). She offers sample courses that, naturally, reflect the humanbecoming paradigm but also notes that other theories would be discussed along the way for comparison regarding consistencies and inconsistencies. In addition, she suggests courses that would prepare citizens of the universe, for example, “Global economy (multicultural approaches to financial stability)” and “Living in space (Ramifications of intergalactic relationships)” (Parse, 2021, p. 189). The latter is reminiscent of and a fitting tribute to Martha Rogers (1992), who wrote early on about the advent of human beings into space. Heady stuff, designed to inspire students (and faculty). She ends with elements of supervising-evaluating and overall program evaluation. Regardless of the conceptual framework chosen, developers of future PhD programs would benefit from following such an elegant structure, consistent with whichever framework they choose, in the hope that, indeed, they would choose one from which to evolve a program.
As she noted in the new Preface, sciencing is not static. The changes show humanbecoming to be alive and everchanging, and it can be safely assumed that this will remain the case, necessitating yet another edition in the future, as the science is open-ended and full of creative possibilities not yet imagined. Indeed, the final Coda to the book ends with the promise of “living with opportunities that arise with the emergence of the ever new mysteries of the yet-to-be discovered possibilities in sciencing and living the art of humanbecoming for the betterment of humanity” (Parse, 2021, p. 191).
