Study Week Two

Ohhh, study week two out of the way already.

There was very little reading to do this week, only sections 1-3 of chapter one, so that only took me an hour or so. The workbook ditto, as it was all about active reading which a) I already covered extensively in the DD100 reading and note taking supplement book and b) there were no real activities as such to do so it wasn't very time consuming.
Also this week, as part of our student directed study, we had to read the Epoch (exploring psychology history and content) leaflet and have a play around with that on the course website. The most time consuming element of this was finding where Epoch actually once, but once I found it it was ok. To be honest, I didn't really do many of the activities set out in the leaflet as they were just to make sure you could navigate your way around the material which is pretty straight forward to be honest. It's a good resource though and I'm sure it will come i handy, especially around TMA time!!

So, what have I learned this week? Well, chapter one is all about identity and diversity. The chapter focuses on three theories of identity as well as four different methods (two of which are covered in the first three sections, the Twenty Statements Test and semi-structured identity status interview).

The chapter so far has focused on identity as an everyday topic, and how many people view it to have social influences. Embodiment was also touched upon, whereby our physical is part of our identity and how we use our physical appearance as a symbol of our identity (Foucault termed this 'Psychologies of self'). Also covered was the importance of neuropsychology in identity development as memory is important to identity, and the social model of disability which suggests that disability is as much a social restriction as it is a physical one, as disabled people are often restricted, for example, in public places with no disabled facilities.

The Twenty Statements Test (Kuhn and McPartland 1954) was a way of gaining access to peoples thought and mental processes (introspectionism) by asking the question 'Who am I?' which had to be answered in 12 minutes and analysing the data quantitatively by working out percentages of each type of category within the answer (ie physical appearance or social role).

ADVANTAGES

• Large sample could be used
• Quick
• No time for participants to censor their answers.

DISADVANTAGES

• Divided answers into categories provided by the researcher.
• Didn't leave enough time for the participant to really thing about their answer in a detailed way.
• Doesn't take on board the reasoning behind each choice.

The next part of the chapter goes on to talk about the Psychosocial theory of identity, focusing on Erik Erikson and James Marcia. This theory believes that identity is a combination of our own personal identity (our 'core' identity) and the social context which we are surrounded by.

Erikson thought of identity as a sense of who we are are striving to fit in with our community, and stressed the importance of the continuity of our identity over time. Erikson believed that identity of most important when we are involved in an identity crisis, as if we are only really aware of our identity when it becomes an issue. Erikson thought that identity was a lifelong process developed through 'normative crises'. He believe there to be 8 stages of identity development, beginning with age birth-1 year (trust vs mistrust crisis)through to late adulthood (integrity vs despair). However, he believed the most important stage to be stage 5, adolescence (identity achievement vs role diffusion).

There endth the lesson for today lol, my youngest has just woken up so we're off out for a stroll-to be continued!

Right-I'm back! The kids are in bed and I can finish my entry.

Where was I? Oh yes, Erikson...

Stage 5 was the time during a person's life where they have to undergo the most life changes and face the most decisions, and at the end of this period Erikson thought it was important for a person to achieve ego identity, a secure knowledge of who they are. He also termed this stage psychosocial moratorium, a period in their lives during which they can experiment with different choices and life decisions without making any firm commitments, in order to find their own paths in like and to progress into adulthood and achieve their own ego identity. Erikson also highlight the possible difficulties faced by adolescents during this time, and how many experience identity crises as they have problems forming a coherent vision of who they are and have difficulty commiting to roles corresponding with adulthood-the inability to form an ego identity was coined role diffusion. He also thought that this concept of role diffusion is the reason why many young people form strong bonds with social groups and participant in 'clannish' behaviour, being hostile to outsiders and becoming intolerant to anyone different to their social group-the need to identity with a group of people in order to try to find some identity.

Erikson's work influenced James Marcia, a psychotherapist. Marcia devised the semi-structured identity status interview method of exploring Erikson's 5th stage theory. The interview consists of questions which cover a particular theme (ie identity!) but the questions are structured in order to allow more flexibility, by focusing more on the participants words. Also, the researcher can get a richer view of participants as the interview allows researchers to ask follow up questions based on the participants answers. The interview has a conversational feel and is often recorded so that the researcher can listen back in order to analyse the interview, which can be assessed either quantitatively by researchers coding the answers into various categories, or qualitatively.

ADVANTAGES

• More, richer data can be gathered.
• More scope for analysis.

DISADVANTAGES

• Time consuming.
• Only a small sample can be gathered at a time.

The questions asked in the interview relate to the various crises faced by 18-25 year old college students in relation to, for example, religious, occupational and political preferences. Marcia's main focus was the amount of exploration of life choices by the participants as well as their commitment to those life choices. Marcia categorised four identity statuses:

1. Identity diffusion-consisting of low exploration and low commitment, where participants answers indicated that they had no real interest in exploring choices of committing to anything. These participants were often unhappy and easily lead (much like the adolescents in Erikson's role diffusion theory and the 'clannish' behaviour).
2. Identity Foreclosure-participants with low levels of exploration and high levels of commitment. Participants in this category often have a single set of values which originate from their parents.
3. Moratorium-High expectation, low commitment. Keen to explor all options but find it difficult to commitment, and are often insecure. According to Marcia, an essential stage to go through before the next stage....
4. Identity achievement-Thats right, you've guessed it... both high exploration and acheivement. People who have gone through moratorium and have then commited to an identity. These people are thoughtful, good in relationships and cope well under stress.

Phew, so there we go, this weeks material in a nutshell. I thought I had understood everything this week as I was going through the book, but when it came to writting this summary and going back over the material I realised i'd got the majority of it mixed up lol! However, having now gone over it I know that a) I've got this week's material covered and b) I need to read more actively!

Hopefully by the weekend I will have finished the reading for next week which means I'll have to make a start on the assignment, which I've read through and seems fairly simple but I always get mega writting block when it comes to assignments so we shall have to see how we get on!

Until next time!

Candyflee