Lesson 22: Adolescence and Identity

Attention

Up until recently I didn't know what "Emo" meant! I guess it means "Emotional"...possibly "Dramatic"

Below is a picture of an Emo girl I got off the web

This is a picture of my daughter Mara...any questions?

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Identify the statuses of identity as outlined by James Marcia
  • Identify typical adolescent thought processes as outlined by Elkind

Teaching

“The hardest thing about adolescence is that everything seems too big. There's no way to get context or perspective, ..... Pain and joy without limits. No one can live like that forever, so experience finally comes to our rescue. We come to know what we can endure, and also that nothing endures.” - Sara Paretsky in Bleeding Kansas

Much of the adolescent mind is focused, if not consumed, by the idea of the identification of "self" or "identity". Along with the physical and cognitive changes there is a sense of FUTURE that brings about a sense of urgency as to what that FUTURE will be like...

In Erikson's 5th stage the adolescent encounters "Identity vs. Identify Diffusion"...but identity is not just ONE thing...it is many things.

Consider these aspects of your identity:

  • gender
  • education
  • family
  • location
  • skills
  • weaknesses
  • favorite foods/music/etc.
  • goals

Each of these fluctuate over time so your Identity is constantly, in some ways, in a process of change.

James Marcia constructed a theory of Identity Status to identify the status of any particular aspect of your identity. Each part of your identity makes up the "picture" of YOU (as do pieces of a jigsaw puzzle), and each piece can have it's own "status".

Marcia's model is based on two processes...Crisis and Commitment. In this model, "Crisis" means you are examining the options, "Commitment" means that you have selected an option. Each piece of your identity has a status based on if you are in "crisis" and/or "commitment" about the piece!

  • Diffusion
    • No crisis and no commitment
    • Person has not made decisions about this part of his identity and is not looking or examining options
  • Moratorium
    • Crisis but no commitment
    • Currently looking and examining options, but has not selected one yet
  • Foreclosure
    • Commitment but no crisis
    • This piece of identity is set but was never examined in terms of choices
  • Achieved
    • Crisis and commitment
    • This piece has been identified by a process of looking at the options and the selecting the one

Examples:

I will use my own identity to give you examples of 4 different parts of my identity that meet these criteria:

  • Diffusion
    • No crisis and no commitment
    • I know that I want to live some place else outside of Maine later in life, but I have not begun the process of really looking at options
  • Moratorium
    • Crisis but no commitment
    • I am currently looking to sell my house and move into an apartment, likely by this summer
  • Foreclosure
    • Commitment but no crisis
    • I am a male and I've never REALLY considered any other possibilities
  • Achieved
    • Crisis and commitment
    • I have tried all kinds of jobs in my life, and I have arrived at the conclusion that teaching is the one I like the best

Adolescents tend to have MORE aspects of their identity in the DIFFUSION and MORATORIUM states...and there is a lot more plasticity of identity.

How do adolescents think?

This has been a question across the history of the concept of adolescence!

One of the most prominent models about Adolescent Thinking Styles comes from David Elkind

David Elkind is somewhat famous because he is the most prominent psychologist for WebMD. Look him up!

Assessment

Lesson 22 Discussion

Tell a story from your own adolescence, or the life of a current adolescent, or the life of your subject, which exemplifies one of Elkind's adolescent thinking styles...be explicit so it is CLEAR that the story relates.