This research delves into the lived experiences of young women in Kenya, who must navigate societal norms, gender bias, and the stigma surrounding feminism while forging their identities. The study is focused on identity formation, women's issues, feminism, stigma, and misogyny. It seeks to fill a gap in previous research by examining how the stigma of feminism impacts everyday women's relationship with the movement and their own feminist identities. Through interviews with educated women who do not necessarily identify as feminists, the author aims to explore how women attempt to develop their lives and identities in a society rife with gender discrimination. The interviews covered various topics, including childhood and adult experiences related to otherness and difference, belonging and shame, parenting and upbringing, traditional norms, pressure, and expectations.

Att veta vem man är i en värld fylld av normer och regler kan vara en kamp för många. Vad identitet betyder beror på vem som tillfråggas vilket även skiner ljus på den komplexitet som existerar kring detta ämne. Denna undersökning utfördes i syftet att komma närmare upplevelsen av identitetsskapande hos unga svenskfödda individer med utländsk bakgrund. Åtta intervjuer genomfördes med unga individer mellan 20-24 år. En tematisk analys gav fyra teman som visade att upplevelsen av identitetsskapande hos unga svenskfödda individer med bikulturell identitet differentierar och att det finns både för- och nackdelar. I de svårigheter som representerades förekom även en positiv upplevelse av stolthet, och i de möjligheter som representerades förekom även en synlig kamp. Resultatet tydde på att bikulturella individer behöver känna sig accepterade och få synas som en individ utöver den bikulturella identiteten.

This dissertation examines the case of Moldova, where two ethnic nationalisms (Moldovan and Romanian) have battled over the content of national identity over the last two decades. Historically, the land on which Moldova lies was caught in a tug-of-war between Russia (later Soviet Union) and Romania. Sharing the same ethnic traits with Romania, Romanian nationalism emerged early in Moldova, only to be later deconstructed by the Soviets through deportations and executions of Romanian nationalists, and eventually reconstructed as a "Moldavian" identity. This dissertation has two goals. First, through archival and historical research it traces the process of formation of ethnic identity and the emergence of two conflicting nationalisms in Moldova. Second, it investigates the role of public education in ethno-national identity formation through interviews and a survey of Moldovan students. I hypothesize that because self-identified Romanians control the school curricula, the younger generation is more likely to identify as Romanian than the rest of the population - whose connection with school is more distant. To test this thesis, I conducted an original survey of students from seven schools. In contrast to the primordialist theory of nationalism, these findings indicate a relatively fluid national identity. However, the case of Moldovan nationalism also contradicts the instrumentalist school of thought, which over-emphasizes the socio-economic interests of nationalist agents and fails to take into account the cultural motivations of nationalism. Moldovan story indicates that at the fore-front of Romanian nationalist movement were the relatively well-off intellectuals and not the rural and urban working people as the accounts of Cash and Crowther indicate. Lastly, the structuralist (materialist) school fails to acknowledge the power of ideas and the effect they have on historical events. While material means like print media, capital markets, and urbanization facilitated the diffusion of these ideas, they did not create them. As the case of Moldova illustrates, the emergence of nationalism cannot be explained without an understanding of the motivations of the agents involved.

Amidst growing concerns due to a rise in incidents of inter racial conflict between African Caribbean and South Asian young men; this thesis draws on the concept of identity formation as an instigating factor in terms of why young people may get embroiled in conflict with other cultural groups. Drawing on semi structured questionnaires with professionals and community workers, an ethnographic study with young people involved in or party to the incidents and a few in depth focus groups it explores the historical issues associated with the conflict, the development of identity and how and why this may be different for those from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups and how it can then materialise into conflict when threatened. It aims to contribute to practice, knowledge and understanding of inter racial conflict and how the creation of positive identities can reduce these incidents. It also seeks to identify approaches and interventions most likely to be effective in addressing this which include working with parents, carers and the wider community who may carry some of the historical issues that allow the conflict to exist. Findings point to identity formation being complex and multifaceted, which can be affected through personal and social experiences: many of these being different for young people from BME communities. Identity is fragile and can be shaped and changed through these experiences which can be compounded by interrelated needs and anxious backgrounds which can then manifest into behaviour that targets those that they may feel threatened by. This study cites the importance of cultural specific responses and interventions which are holistic, informal and flexible to meet the distinct needs of not only young people but those that are influential in their lives. In addition it highlights the importance of work associated with identity formation and the creation of positive identities as a precursor to reducing conflict situations.

Violence has always been conspicuously present in the American nation, its culture and literature. Considering the immoderate abundance of violence in current entertainment industry, it would seem natural for the emotions to be dulled and able to process any abhorrent excess of violence; the reactions that both Blood Meridian and The Road by the American author Cormac McCarthy have gathered are thus all the more surprising. Face to face with the novels' unspeakable evil, many readers do recoil in horror and the pervasive violence of McCarthy's writings has provoked a wide range of critical perception. The novels may differ significantly in the setting − Southwestern United States of the 19th century in Blood Meridian as opposed to post-apocalyptic future of The Road - but the apparent gulf between both groups of characters and mainly between them and the reader is only another ruse of McCarthy's scheme, whereby he unveils uncomfortable truths about humankind. Although his meticulous study of sources might support the inevitability, even a penchant for bloodshed and carnage in specific conditions, it would be erroneous and contrary to McCarthy's portrayal to imply that it is anomalous rather than representative. The hostility in the novels should not be understood as a feature of a particular region or...

This study examines how and why parents of gay and lesbian children come to join a support and advocacy group when same-sex attraction and sexuality are still considered deviant and immoral by the majority of society. Based on participant observation of and interviews with parents in two separate support and advocacy groups this study examines how parents come to define themselves in terms of the issues they are fighting for, in this case gay and lesbian acceptance, inclusion, and equality. This research also examines how parents formulate new religious convictions to satisfy their new parental role as supporter and advocate of their gay or lesbian child, all the while maintaining that they are normal, moral, and good parents, replacing this courtesy stigma with exemplary parenting. In addition, this study explores how parents re-tell stories from their child’s past, using “retrospective interpretation” that foretell their child’s gay or lesbian identity in adulthood. These stories rely on any deviation from culturally accepted and expected gender roles and norms, which are then interpreted as “evidence” or “indicators” that the child was always gay or lesbian and would be in adulthood as well. Furthermore, the parents create a new self based on their religious alterations and the location of artifacts in the child’s past that predict a gay or lesbian identity.

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / There is a considerable literature linking aspects of personality, attachment,and identity development. Five hundred and thirty one boarding school learners participated in a study of the relationship between identity, assessed with the Ochse’ Erikson scale (Ochse, 1983; Ochse & Plug, 1986), EPIES (Rosenthal et al., 1981), PIES (Markstrom et al., 1997), and Tan’s Eriksonian Ego Identity (Tan et al., 1977); domicile (rural or urban), and attachment assessed with The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment Revised (IPPA-R; Gullone, & Robinson, 2005). No relationship was found between domicile, and the development of attachment and identity. Results of the current study revealed no significant relationship between attachment, identity development and home background of individuals. Keyword: Attachment; Identity formation; Internal working models; Exploration; Commitment.

Recent research has uncovered a new phenomenon in some distressed areas, black gentrification. Black gentrification follows the same pattern as mainstream gentrification with one notable exception: In black gentrifying neighborhoods both the poor and working class residents who resided in the neighborhood prior to its “gentrification” and the new residents of greater economic means are black. An additional hallmark of black gentrification that distinguishes it from traditional gentrification is that black gentrifiers in black gentrifying neighborhoods often feel a responsibility or obligation to their lower income black neighbors. Prior to the economic downturn in the United States, some in-town Atlanta neighborhoods were undergoing black gentrification. Amidst the current mortgage foreclosure epidemic facing the U.S., distressed urban areas like the ones under study, which began to gentrify in the last ten to twenty years, can easily fall prey to mortgage fraud and/or further decline. Sustained revitalization efforts require that the neighborhoods maintain a critical density level; therefore, neighborhoods cannot afford to lose more citizens. My dissertation focuses on two historic, black gentrifying in-town Atlanta neighborhoods: the Old Fourth Ward and the West End. The Old Fourth Ward is the location of the birth home of one of Atlanta’s most celebrated sons, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The West End, once a center of black consciousness in the city, now boasts one of the highest mortgage fraud rates in the nation. Revitalization efforts in both communities are in jeopardy. This dissertation explores ways to strengthen social and economic cohesion in these gentrifying black communities. Specifically, I argue that attachment to the neighborhood space (something I term “place affinity”) has the potential to obviate social tensions in gentrifying black communities and bind residents to each other and the social space they all occupy.

Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur kvinnor på kvinnodominerade arbetsplatser upplever kritik. Studien kommer att vara en fältstudie vari man granskar kvinnor som är verksamma inom förskolan, då tidigare forskning visat på en klar majoritet av kvinnor inom denna yrkeskår. Avsikten med studien är inte att uppnå någon objektiv sanning av verkligheten, dock avser denna studie tolka eventuella fenomen som rör ämnet, samt skapa en förståelse för individens syn på begreppet. Informanterna har valts ut strategiskt, vidare präglas informanternas deltagande av självselektion. Man kommer inte att ta hänsyn till andra variabler än kön vad gäller urvalet. Teorier som studien vilar på är den symboliska interaktionismen där bland annat dess syn på rationalitet behandlas. Vidare tas Johan Asplunds teori om social responsivitet i beaktning och avslutningsvis Erving Goffmans teori om identitetsskapande. De slutsatser som kan dras i och med denna studie är att relationerna mellan individerna i en grupp verkar ha stor betydelse för hur man upplever kritik. För att undvika missförstånd kring det valda ämnet verkar allmän mening råda att "definitionen av situationen" är något man bör ta i beaktande, detta då kritik till en början upplevs som någonting negativt. / The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how women in female dominated workplaces are experiencing criticism. The study will be a field study which is examining women who are active in preschool, when previous research has demonstrated a clear majority of women in this profession. The intention of this study is not to create any objective truth of reality, however, relate this study to interpret and describe any phenomena related to the topic, and create an understanding of the individual's perception of the concept. The informants were chosen strategically, further characterized the informants' participation of self-selection. It will not take into account, variables other than gender in terms of selection. Theories that the study rests on is the symbolic interactionism, which, among other things, its view of rationality is treated. Furthermore the theory of Johan Asplund, social responsivity, is taken into consideration and, finally, Erving Goffman's theory of identity formation. The conclusions to be drawn, in and of this study is that the relations between individuals in a group seems to have a major impact on how people perceive criticism. To avoid misunderstandings about the chosen topic appears public opinion, advise that the "definition of the situation" is something you should take into consideration, so where the spontaneous reaction of criticism is negative.

Normal children acquire the necessary social habits without being consciously aware of this, they learn instinctively. (Author’s translation from Swedish to English) (Asperger & Frith, 1998, s. 21)   This essay is about people who do not learn to socialize, the social habits, instinctively but through conscious learning. We have interviewed three adults with the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome with the aim to let them tell us about what it means to have a neuropsychiatric disability. We will briefly describe how the Asperger syndrome is described in the literature and what facilities are offered within the Swedish health care system. A diagnosis refer to a deviation from what is assumed to be the normal, therefore we will put forward theories concerning the norm of normality and normativity. We have tried through a theoretical discussion to deepen our understanding of identity formation and found the following arguments are reliable individual identity is shaped by three sub-aspects of identity; the identity of biological, psychological identity and social identity. Based on these theoretical arguments, a reasoning regarding how this affects what people with Asperger syndrome will and can tell us about when they talk about how they perceive their life before and after they have been diagnosed. Our intention is to critically discuss how identity formation is affected and how normality are handled and experienced by a group people with this diagnosis. / Normala barn tillägnar sig nödvändiga sociala vanor utan att vara medvetet uppmärksamma på detta, de lär sig instinktivt. (Asperger & Frith, 1998, s. 21) Denna uppsats handlar om människor som inte lär sig sociala vanor instinktivt utan att säger sig att göra det genom medveten intellektuell inlärning. I den här uppsatsen har vi intervjuat tre vuxna med diagnosen Asperger syndrom för att kunna belysa vad det kan innebära att ha en neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning. Vi kommer kortfattat att beskriva hur Asperger syndrom beskrivs i litteraturen och vilka hjälpmedel som erbjuds inom svensk sjukvård. En diagnos refererar till en avvikelse från vad som antas vara normalt och därför kommer vi att resonera kring det normala och normativitet. Varje individ skapar sig en identitet och i den här studien har vi utgått från förklaringar baserade på tre delaspekter; biologisk, psykologisk och social identitet. Vi har också sökt teoretiska resonemang för att fördjupa förståelsen kring identitetskapande. Med utgångspunkt i dessa teoretiska resonemang har vi resonerat kring hur detta kan påverka vad människor med Asperger syndrom berättar om när de talar om hur de upplever sitt liv före och efter att de har fått diagnosen. Vår avsikt är att kritiskt resonera kring hur identitetskapande påverkas och hur normalitet kan hanteras och upplevas av några människor med denna diagnos.  Studien har resulterat i ett resonemang kring hur diagnosen kan förstås dels som en förutsättning för att få de hjälpmedel dessa människor behöver för att leva ett normalt liv, dels vad just normalitet innebär och hur detta kan förstås påverka dessa människor utifrån de tre normativa aspekterna för identitetskapande. Vi menar att det är viktigt att kritiskt förhålla sig till vad som betraktas som normalt. Vidare att det behövs en förståelse för vad denna normalitet innebär och upplevs som av människor som avviker eller inte uppfyller de normativa kraven i det samhälle som de lever i.