adolescence
identity is a self portrait composed of many pieces and domains:
•career
•political
•religious
•relationship
•achievement
•sexual
•cultural/ethnic
•interests
synthesizing the identity components can be a lengthy process
•negations and affirmations of various roles
•identity development takes place in bits and pieces
developmental changes:
•most significantly, the individual can now sort through and
synthesize childhood indentities to construct a path toward
maturity
•james marcia classifies individuals at this stage based on the
existence or extent of their crisis or commitment
- crisis: a period of identity development suring which the
adolescent is exploring alternatives
- commitment: a personal investment in identity
•marcia's 4 stages of identity:
1. identity diffusion: idividuals have not yet experienced a
crisis/period of exploration or made any commitments;
undecided and uninterested in occupational and ideological
choices
2. identity foreclosure: have made a commitment but not
experienced a crisis/period of exploration; parents hand down
commitments to their adolescents before they have had a