ABSTRACT
Prior to the 1950s, the term ‘identity’ was found mainly in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. However, in the 1950s, based on the works of Erik Erikson, the concept became a ‘reasonably value-neutral and interdisciplinary term’ (e.g. Weigert et al. 1986: 29) with which to describe the effects of social change on social status, group allegiances, value acquisition, and the process by which people developed a sense of meaning and purpose in life. At the same time, theories of mass society emerged in the social sciences to account for the decline in traditional forms of community and a consequent rise in problems of identity (Stein et al. 1960). Since the 1950s, concerns about problems in identity formation and identity con-
struction have morphed into several approaches. In sociology, the term mass society has been replaced by the concepts like postmodernity and late modernity, although similar problematic societal conditions remain as likely sources of identity problems. In addition, a developmental psychology has emerged that ‘normalizes’ identity problems in inadequate maturation, rather than problematic societal conditions. It appears, however, that the societal conditions undermining problem-free identity formation and identity maintenance persist, to the point where the popular press now recognizes ‘identity’ as a key to the increased complexity of youth and young adulthood. (e.g., Frank 1997). At the same time, some developmental psychologists are completely re-evaluating the nature of the transition to adulthood with the proposition that there is now a new life stage – emerging adulthood – characterized by protracted identity exploration (Arnett 2000). This chapter first reviews the major approaches and leading figures in the field of
Identity Studies and then shows how this field is intersecting with Youth Studies, which will be referred to as ‘Youth-Identity Studies’. From this foundation, the current controversies in the area are reviewed and the future prospects of the hybrid Youth-Identity Studies field are speculated upon.
