Identity Development in Deaf Adolescents

• Published in: Journal of deaf studies and deaf education Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 496 - 507
• Main Author: Kunnen, E. Saskia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 01.10.2014; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescent Development; Adolescents; Barriers; Child Development; Commitments; Conflict; Deaf education; Deafness; Deafness - psychology; Empirical Articles; Female; Group development; Humans; Hypothesis Testing; Identification (Psychology); Identity; Identity theory; Interviews; Male; Personal identity; Secondary education; Secondary School Students; Self Actualization; Simulation; Social Identification; Social identity; Special Schools; Spiritual belief systems; Teenagers
• ISSN: 1081-4159; 1465-7325
• DOI: 10.1093/deafed/enu010

We studied identity development during 5 years in seven deaf adolescents who attended a school for deaf children in the highest level of regular secondary education (age between 14 and 18 years), administering identity interviews every year. Identity development is conceptualized as the processes of exploration and commitment formation (Bosma, 1985). We started from the assumption that because deaf adolescents meet more challenges and also—in our sample—were stimulated in their identity development by school programs, they meet identity conflicts at a relatively early age. The findings were highly consistent with our hypotheses that—compared to a general sample—identity development proceeds faster than in a hearing group and that commitment formation in the domain "Being Deaf" starts earlier than in other domains. We did not find evidence for the hypothesis that commitment formation in this domain in the last year was more mature than in other domains due to a ceiling effect.