Constructing Adulthood in an Age of Uncertainty

Autor/in	Silva, Jennifer M.
Titel	Constructing Adulthood in an Age of Uncertainty
Quelle	In: American Sociological Review, 77 (2012) 4, S.505-522 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0003-1224
DOI	10.1177/0003122412449014
Schlagwörter	Young Adults; Working Class; World Views; Identification; Maturity (Individuals); Social Psychology; Individual Development; Change; Developmental Stages; Therapy; Models; Moral Values; Behavior Standards; Social Behavior; Females; Self Concept; Well Being; Locus of Control; Discovery Learning; Social Change; Financial Needs; Economic Climate; Context Effect + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Young adult; Junger Erwachsener; Arbeiterklasse; World view; Weltanschauung; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Reifung; Sozialpsychologie; Individuelle Entwicklung; Wandel; Therapie; Analogiemodell; Moral value; Ethischer Wert; Social behaviour; Soziales Verhalten; Weibliches Geschlecht; Selbstkonzept; Well-being; Wellness; Wohlbefinden; Entdeckendes Lernen; Sozialer Wandel; Wirtschaftslage
Abstract	Past research in both the transitions to adulthood literature and cultural sociology more broadly suggests that the working class relies on traditional cultural models in their construction of identity. In the contemporary post-industrial world, however, traditional life pathways are now much less available to working-class men and women. I draw on 93 interviews with black and white working-class young people in their 20s to 30s and ask, in an era of increasing uncertainty, where traditional markers of adulthood have become tenuous, what kinds of cultural models do working-class young people employ to validate their adult identities? In contrast to previous studies of working-class identity, I found that respondents embraced a model of therapeutic selfhood--that is, an inwardly directed self preoccupied with its own psychic development. I demonstrate that the therapeutic narrative allows working-class men and women to redefine competent adulthood in terms of overcoming a painful family past. Respondents required a witness to validate their performances of adulthood, however, and the inability to find one left many lost in transition. (Contains 1 table and 10 notes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10