The study examines conceptions of identity among girls with foreign background. The aim was to study how identity is understood by the girls based on ethnicity, images of the origin, the value of gender and the meaning of the family. The theoretical approach was post-colonial theory based on Stuart Hall in combination with gender theory by Yvonne Hirdman. The study was conducted using qualitative individual interviews of open character with six girls. They were aged 17-18 years old and were born in Sweden or had lived here since the age of six. The results show that marking difference and creating borders to others are important aspects of identity. Gender is understood by binary opposites which are partly incorporated in their conceptions of identity. The family was a central part of the conception of identity because of its function as a link to both ethnicity and origin. A conclusion is that although ethnicity seems to be more negotiable than gender, both are social categories that the girls have to relate to, despite their wish not to be categorized.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-54351 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Borén, Agnes, Hällberg, Fanny |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete - Socialhögskolan, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete - Socialhögskolan |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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