ABSTRACT
In the contemporary literature on human development, adolescence is characterized as a transitional period between the more family-oriented world of the young person and the more socially diffuse adult world. According to this literature, the central developmental task of this transitional period is a process of psychological and social differentiation from the family, experienced as a period of confusion and instability as the young person strives to achieve an
integrated sense of self (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1980). These changes do not take place in a vacuum but in a context of social worlds constituted by school, peer reference groups, and communal culture. Among these social worlds inconsistencies in the codes, values, roles, or expectations add to the difficulty of identity development.
