Identity Among Adolescent Arab-Americans in Dearborn, Michigan: An Eriksonian Perspective

Abstract

To understand Arab-American adolescents is to acknowledge and address their struggles as they mediate their sense of self. Arab-American adolescents in the United States face difficulties navigating between their native culture and the culture they are being raised in, as well as in their socially devalued status as Muslim Arabs. This investigation looked at the shaping of identity among Arab-Americans through Erik Erikson’s research findings on identity statuses. According to Erikson (1968), the main and most important developmental tasks for adolescents are to solve the identity versus role-confusion crisis, to construct their own unique sense of identity, and to find the social environment in which they can belong and create meaningful relationships with other people (Chen et al., 2007). This investigation also looked at the literature on the effects of the perception of adolescent Arab-Americans about their cultural identification as well as their own understanding of their role in society.