Created in others' eyes

Adolescent Psychiatry,  2002  by Galatzer-Levy, Robert M

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Many investigators have tried to discover the core of adolescence. Their resulting theories converge in viewing adolescence as a process starting with puberty and ending with the assumption of adult roles. Despite disagreement about its nature and appreciation that its form is shaped by environmental factors, these investigators all hold that the essence of adolescence is an inherent aspect of normal human development (Freud, 1905b; Jacobson, 1954; A. Freud, 1958; Blos, 1962, 1967; Erikson, 1963, 1964, 1968; Piaget, 1964; Kohlberg and Gilligan, 1971; Gruber and Voneche, 1977; Kohlberg, 1984). This essentialist-in the sense of suggesting that there is an essence of adolescence-- presumption underlies the majority of work on adolescence, so the goal of much research has been to clarify the nature of this essence. This chapter questions this approach and shows that it has troublesome practical and theoretical implications.

The essentialist view has been challenged by studies of the nature of knowledge. These studies indicate that, often when investigators believe they are describing external realities, social and psychological forces operating on these investigators so profoundly shape their conclusions that core aspects of the conclusions derive from those forces (Derrida, 1967; Kuhn, 1970, 1977; Taylor, 1971; Habermas, 1983; Lyotard, 1993; Hacking, 1999). This shaping is particularly important in the study of people-in which findings are likely to have strong personal meanings for the investigator. A postmodern viewpoint has evolved-one that invites examination of the way in which knowledge is socially constructed and of how what may appear to be intrinsic features of the object of investigation may be shaped by this constructive process. Concepts that categorize people are particularly potent constructions because, once in place, the categorization is often assumed to refer to some essential quality of the person. The issue and power of social construction are particularly salient for understanding adolescence. This chapter explores how the social construction "adolescence" shapes the lives of people going through this period. It goes beyond the view (see, e.g., Esman, 1995) that the experience of adolescence is profoundly shaped by society to a view that the very existence of this period is usefully conceived as a social construct. Practically, it is intended to invite the reader to consider the impact of this social construction in work with people during this period. Theoretically, it is intended to stimulate skepticism about essentialist formulations.

TWO VERY DIFFERENT ADOLESCENTS

I begin by comparing and contrasting two adolescent experiences in or to port to the role of social const.in those experiences. A Case of Mild Identity Confusion and Psychological

Moratorium

Richard, in his early 20s, had to choose between continuing graduate studies in mathematics and applying to medical school. Faced with a choice that he recognized would shape his life course, he felt confused and uncertain despite having a considerable understanding of the conflicting forces inside himself. Luck, and the conviction that solutions are often found in books, led him to Erikson's (1968) Identity, Youth and Crisis. Erikson's ideas seemed brilliant to Richard. Not only did they seem true of his experience, but they also suggested that he shared his dilemma and feelings with "great" young men, like Shaw and Gandhi. The concept "identity crisis" served Richard well. It calmed him as he struggled with the conflicting psychological forces that pulled him in various directions. It spared him the undignified position of simply being confused. Erikson's ideas not only preserved Richard's dignity but raised his confusion to the level of greatness. Personality elements that had seemed "neurotic" now became markers of a valuable new state, an identity crisis, a position deserving both his own respect and the respect of those who were pressuring him to make up his mind.

The phenomenon Richard experienced was evidently common when Erikson's work was first published. In a preface to Identity, Youth and Crisis, Erikson commented on how popular the idea of identity crisis had become with intellectual American youth and, incidentally, how their understanding of the term differed from his own. Every somewhat confused college-educated person seemed to have an identity crisis. Sometimes people planned to have them. (A Harvard student club even scheduled an identity crisis for a Wednesday evening between 7:00 and 9:00.)

An Identity as a Gang Member

Jim was a very different adolescent. At 14, he faced a hearing to determine whether he should be tried as an adult or a child for the murder of a rival gang member. Evidence, and his own retracted confession, strongly suggested that he had killed a 19-year-old boy, execution-- style, as part of an ongoing dispute between two gangs about which gang was entitled to sell drugs on a particular street corner.