The Role Of Role Confusion Within The Adolescent Years

Erikson theorizes that in such a period, adolescents have certain tasks, one of which is identifying who they are. An individual successfully completes the task by staying true to his or her self, whereas when a person fails that stage, it leads to role confusion; consequently creating a weak sense of self. (Block 2011). The stage also entails a variety of personal challenges and limitations faced as well as a series of needs to be met, including: attention, guidance, independence, stability, and acceptance, among other needs. Meeting an adolescent’s needs is fundamental to their healthy development and personal growth. Nevertheless, adolescence remains as puzzling of a period in time for both the teens experiencing it, as well as for the individuals surrounding them, watching them as they navigate through the trials that adolescence brings them.

According to Erik Erikson, adolescence is marked by the child’s questioning his or her identity during what he refers to as the identity versus identity confusion developmental stage. During this phase, the adolescent becomes mindful of his or her identity and seeks his or her purpose in life, as well as the answer to the eternal question, “who

With respect to Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development, the adolescence is the stage of identity versus role confusion. He also believes that identity as the significant personality achievement of adolescence is an essential step toward becoming a productive happy adult (Feldman, 2006). I remember so vividly my high school experience; especially

Identity is a critical aspect of the growth and development in human beings. It is defined as a condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is; the qualities that distinguish or identify a person. Identity influenced by relationships is when the people one associates themselves with shape their identity. “Researchers posited that it is important to recognize the process of exploring and making commitments in interpersonal relationships is four domains: friendship, dating, sex roles, and recreation.” Relationships with friends, parents, and partners help influence an identity in a person. They each have a specific time where one is more important than the other. Each one shapes the person's identity, it could be for the better or for the worst. Parents are the first influence that a child has, then peers/friends become more important, and lastly partners help finish off shaping the person's identity. They each have a role in the

It outlines the struggle an individual faces in finding stability between developing a sense of forming a unique identity while still being accepted and “fitting in” with society. Erikson believed that when teenagers adequately navigated their way through this crisis, they would transpire into having a clear understanding of their individual identity and easily share this new ‘self’ with others. However, if an individual is unable to navigate their way through this crisis period, they may be uncertain of who they are which can result in a lack of understanding, leading to disconnection from society and the people around them. If youth become stuck at this stage they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults, according to Erikson’s theory. This period of an individual’s life allows them to investigate possibilities which will lead them to discovering their own identity based upon the result of their explorations.

Mistrust, (2) Autonomy v. Shame, Doubt, (3) Initiative v. Guilt, (4) Industry v. Inferiority, and (5) Identity v. Identity Confusion (). Also Levinson’s theory, theory of the mind, attachment theory and identity theory. The questions were based on the outcomes of both syntonic and dystonic conflict resolutions of each stage documented by B and (). It is assumed that dystonic expressions in statements relating to each phase would contribute to some degree of identity confusion in adolescent as well as later life and perhaps provide some guidelines to a review of the subject’s lifespan development.

Much like Maeve’s trial and error phase, Erikson’s theory of identity versus role confusion explains psychological conflict of adolescence. This theory states that this conflict is resolved positively when adolescents achieve an identity after a period of exploration and inner soul searching. If a young person’s earlier conflicts were resolved negatively or if society limits their choices to ones that do not match their abilities and desires, they may appear shallow, directionless, and unprepared for the challenges of late adulthood. (p. 314). Maeve luckily didn’t make many choices that were resolved negatively. These social and emotional changes weren’t always easy for the rest of the family to deal with, but they were a part of her growth. With us there to provide nurturing support, she was able to develop her own healthy identity after her period of “soul searching.”

One of the theorists to investigate the development of identity would be Erik Erikson. According to Erikson (1968), throughout an individual’s life-span, they experience conflicts. These conflicts arise at certain points in life and need to be successfully resolved for the progression in to the next of Erikson’s eight stages (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). The specific stage relevant to the development of identity formation in adolescence would be the ‘identity versus role confusion’ stage. Identity development involves exploring options and making commitments to obtain a relatively stable self-perception (DeHaan & MacDermid, 1996). In contrast, role confusion occurs when individuals are not able to commit specific life choices (DeHaan & MacDermid,

Erik Erikson named the stage of adolescents “identity versus role confusion” (Sigelman, C. & Rider, E. pg. 343). This is a pivotal time in an individual’s life where many future endeavors; personal, academic, and professional, depend on the outcome of this stage. During this time, adolescents are trying to refine the many facets of their personality such as, political, sexual, religiousness, just to name a few. This is an arduous

This client’s name is Tyler Harker. (He is a fourteen-year-old male student who has type 1 diabetes mellitus. Tyler’s primary caregiver is himself and his mother. He is in the psychosocial stage of identity versus role confusion. The cognitive stage of this client is formal operational. Tyler is the learner. He speaks English and does not have any disabilities related to learning, has no other pre-existing health conditions, and no sociocultural factors that may impede learning. The client identifies his strengths as being able to take care of himself and being independent. His motivation to learn seems to be strong as evidenced by behaviors of listening, nodding, and sitting straight up in a chair with arms open. The client has good reading and comprehension at his age level as indicated by him reading out of his school history book. Indications that suggest the client has the ability to problem solve include him being able to come up with concepts and alternatives. The home environment is very clean, uncluttered and organized and requires no modifications. If the client cannot carry out his care, his mom and dad are both available and in-tune with how to give Tyler’s care. Other support available for Tyler include his peers, church group, and diabetes camp he attends yearly. Tyler is ready to deal with his own self-care and motivated to learn [Hunt, 2009].)

Erikson (1968) believed that the primary psychosocial task of adolescence is the formation of identity. Therefore, he called developmental conflict identity versus confusion. There are various contributing factors to the formation of identity such as cognitive development, personality as well as schools and communities etc. The onset of puberty during adolescents leads to newfound cognitive skills and physical abilities (Kroger,2004) . In addition, increased independence and autonomy leads to greater interactions with communities and schools etc. according to Erikson (1968), this allows the individual to explore relationships and ideologies. He gave particular attention to the career domain, starting “In general, it is the ability to settle

Adolescence: Fidelity – Identity vs. Role Confusion – The famed term “identity crisis” comes from this period of development. Erikson argued that adolescents undergo an identity crisis during which they must establish an identity, goals, and a purpose. Adolescents who struggle to find a purpose to their lives and a separate identity from their parents and other caregivers may be unable to establish a coherent, consistent identity.

The Identity vs Role Confusion stage is represented in the years of adolescence and early adulthood. Erickson identifies this stage as a very important stage of an adolescence, because this stage is where the development of identity forms begin. If a strong sense of identity is not identified for an adolescences they will continue to experience confusion roles throughout their adulthood (Siegler et al., 2014, pp. 346-347). The film represents this Identity vs Role Confusion stage because some of the individuals in the film have experienced this stage in their lives. For example, Suzy in the film had experienced role confusion in her life. In 56 Up, Suzy, at 16 years old, during her adolescence age, she was uninterested in school, which she dropped out of and moved to Paris to create a new experience. Moving to Paris made her become more motivated, which she ended up getting a job and helping her shape her identity by experiencing new social and cultural changes. She was a nervous wreck and she was a heavy smoker, but when she was about 28, I examined that she had a better sense of identity because she was more mature, settled, and successful. From Suzy being a young child to a grown adult, she has changed drastically over her life span. She has matured and once she met her husband, her views changed, such as her not wanting children, but once she married her

For Erikson (1950) adolescence is a period during which individuals seek to avoid dangers of role diffusion and identity confusion by establishing a sense of personal identity. Individuals have to find answers for two major questions “who am I?” and “what is my place in society?” Identity is a “conscious sense of individual uniqueness” and an “unconscious striving for a continuity of experience” (Erikson, 1968, p. 208).

Adolescence is the fifth stage in Erikson's psychosocial development theory. It is posited to last from ages 12 to 18, and the basic conflict inherent in the adolescent stage, which the person must resolve, is between identity and role confusion. This conflict between identity and role confusion especially plays itself out in peer relationships, but the teenager also navigates through identity and role confusion with relationships in the family unit. Identity and role confusion issues can arise with sexuality, as well as worldviews.