Identity in Whose Eyes? The Role of Representations in Identity Construction

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to address the question: what impact do others' representations have on the construction of identity. A study of the social identities of teenagers living in Brixton, South London, reveals the dialectic between identity and representation. The first section describes the research context, sets out the procedure to the 7 focus groups with a total of 44 school students (girls and boys from a variety of cultural backgrounds from three different secondary schools), and explains the process of computer-assisted qualitative analysis. In the second section I describe the findings. In exploring the different strategies teenagers use in the development of positive social identities and self-esteem, particularly in relation to black teenagers, the dynamic and contested nature of identity comes to the fore. These findings are then used, in section three, to demonstrate the value of incorporating social representations into social identity and self-categorisation theories. This demands a critical review of these theories and highlights the importance of representations in the construction of identity.