Problem:
James Marcia suggested that identity has two key characteristics: crisis and commitment. "Crisis is a period of identity development in which an adolescent consciously chooses between various alternatives and makes decisions. Commitment is a psychological investment in a course of action or an ideology. Marcia identified four identity statuses that individuals may experience in adolescence and later life: identity achievement, identity foreclosure, identity diffusion, and moratorium" (Feldman, 2023, p. 415).
Looking back on my own adolescence, I believe my progression was more closely aligned with Erikson's theory than Marcia's. This is because I don't view my adolescence through the framework of crisis or commitment. I often felt I lacked the privilege to consciously choose and decide what I wanted due to my race, sex, age, and class. Even when I resolved inner conflicts, significant barriers remained that prevented me from realizing my goals and often forced me to choose an alternative path. For example, in my early teens, I was not legally allowed to work at better-paying teenage jobs like waitress, cashier, or bank teller due to age restrictions and my socioeconomic status. However, my mom could not always afford to pay for everything I needed-she might pay for dance class, but not for my jazz shoes, for instance. So, even though I decided I needed to work to buy the shoes, the law prevented it, and I had to babysit to make money. (I did not enjoy taking care of kids, as I was already a free babysitter for my mom as the eldest.) I also lived in a neighborhood, where pay equalled food or hand me downs of unwanted accessories, so saving was not always an easy thing to do. While both Erikson's and Marcia's theory is not perfect and does not fully account for intersectionality, I do think, in a general sense, I was solidly in Erikson's identity vs. identity confusion stage because it feels broader and more inclusive of my experiences. Need Assignment Help?
References:
Feldman, R. S. (2023). Development across the life span (10th ed.). Pearson.
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