Die verband tussen adolessente se persepsies van gesinsfunksionering en hulle identiteitsontwikkeling

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The adolescent's efforts to discover and create an identity are the most importanttask of this period of life. Identity formation can be regarded as a centraldevelopmental task during adolescence. For Erikson (1968) adolescence ismarked by the need to resolve the crises of identity vs role confusion.The child cannot be seen in isolation from his system, especially the family inwhich he/she functions. The adolescent's identity and how he/she respond to theteenage years and development to adulthood is influenced by what happens inthe family.The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between the adolescent'sperception of family functioning and identity development.The target group was Grade 12 (163) pupils from 3 secondary schools withinCircuit 1 in the Bellville region in Cape Town.Two instruments were used, The Extended Objective Measure óf Ego IdentityStatus (EOM-EIS-2) (Adams,1999; Bennion and Adams,1986) and the FamilyFunctioning in Adolescence Questionnaire (FFAQ) (Langey,1994). The EOMEIS-2 is a self administered questionnaire. The 64-item instrument is anextension of Marcia's identity status paradigm and assesses psychosocialmaturity with regard to oocupational, religious, political, and social dimensions ofidentity development. The FFAQ is developed to provide an instrument forassessing the psychosocial health of the family during the stage of havingadolescent children, as perceived by the adolescent. It examines six dimensionsof family functioning: structure, affect, communication, behaviour control, valuetransmission and external systems.In view of the results reported the most important findings can be summarized asfollows:Identity diffusion shows a significant negative correlation with variousdimensions of family functioning, including affective interaction in thefamily, communication, behavior control, the transmission of values, andthe role of external systems in family life. This finding partly applies tothree of the four subgroups, with the Afrikaans-speaking males the onlyexception.Among the English-speaking subgroup (males and females) the identityachievement status shows a significant positive correlation withcommunication and with the transmission of values in the family.Among the Afrikaans-speaking subgroup (males and females) the identityforeclosure status shows a significant positive correlation withcommunication, behavior control, the transmission of values, and the roleof external systems in family life.Various important implications for education were pointed out.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University