Narratives of identity in adopted adolescents: Interview analysis

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the essential aspects of the process of identity shaping in adopted individuals. Identity development coincides with the period of adolescence, so the study participants were recruited from among adopted adolescents. For the purpose of the study it was assumed that the adoptive family has its own characteristics, different from those of the biological family. Thus, additional elements of development emerge in the life of adoptive parents and adopted children alongside normative developmental tasks. The study used a qualitative method of narrative interview. This was dictated by a small number of findings in current Polish psychological literature on the topic, as well as a scarcity of reliable and valid research methods. The results of the study were then analyzed in terms of self-awareness, family relations and wider social relations, which were described by other adoption researchers as important factors in shaping the adoptive identity. Content analysis of the participants' narratives revealed that early and late adolescence determine other key issues relevant in shaping the adoptees' identity in terms of both the content and degree of involvement in the search for answers. This allows us to advance a thesis that identity formation may take longer in an adoptee and extend into adulthood. Checking the validity of this thesis may be a topic for further research.