The concluding chapter highlights the contributions of this edited volume’s chapters in terms of advancing and expanding critical consciousness theory and measurement. We recap the two parts of the volume – one focused on issues relevant to theory and the other focused on issues relevant to measurement – and briefly review the ways in which each chapter appearing in the volume addresses key issues related to theory and measurement.

This introduction chapter provides an introduction to critical consciousness and articulates the rationale for why an edited volume on critical consciousness theory and measurement is needed. We highlight the structure of the book, which has two parts: one focused on issues relevant to theory and the other focused on issues relevant to measurement. A brief review of each of the chapters appearing in the volume’s two sections is provided. This chapter concludes with the presentation of a "schema" we provide to support navigating the contents of this volume – and other critical consciousness scholarship– and explicate how this schema represents some of the most complex and challenging issues faced by scholars working in critical consciousness theory and measurement today.

In this chapter, we briefly introduce critical consciousness and social empathy frameworks, which have both been used to analyze and address inequitable societal conditions, structural disparities, marginalization, and oppression. We then present an integrated framework that brings the two together. After introducing the integrated critical consciousness–social empathy framework – which may elucidate one means by which critical reflection–action–motivation praxis is enhanced or augmented – we present results from an exploratory study testing the framework with data drawn from a US national sample of adults. Study results suggest social empathy may moderate associations between critical consciousness dimensions, or at least the pathway between critical reflection and critical motivation, as tested here. We conclude by considering some implications of this new framework for future research and practice.