ABSTRACT

The role of social environment in identity formation and separation has often been overlooked. In order to address this gap in the existing literature, we compared two groups of adolescent high school students aged between 17 and 18 years: those who lived at home and those who lived in a boarding school. We compared the two groups on identity achievement, psychological separation, and their perceptions of their relationships with parents. The findings revealed that boarding school students reported higher levels of foreclosure and emotional and attitudinal independence than did day school students. They also reported lower levels of parental control than did day school students. The findings reveal that the sense of volition that results from physical distance from parents is related to psychological freedom while preserving emotional closeness. These findings have practical implications for parents, teachers, and therapists because they reveal the means by which both identity development and healthy parent-adolescent relationships can be fostered. Implications of these finding for therapeutic boarding schools are discussed.

摘要

人们常常忽略了社会环境在身份形成和分离中的作用。为了解决现有文献中的这一差距，我们比较了两组年龄在17至18岁之间的青春期高中学生：住在家里的那些和住在寄宿学校的那些。我们比较了两组人的身份成就，心理分离以及他们对父母关系的看法。调查结果表明，寄宿学校的学生报告的止赎以及情感和态度独立性水平高于走读学校的学生。他们还报告说，父母控制的水平低于走读学校的学生。研究结果表明，与父母的身体距离导致的意志力与心理自由有关，同时又保持情感上的亲密关系。这些发现对父母，教师和治疗师具有实际意义，因为它们揭示了可以促进身份发展和健康的父母与青少年关系的手段。讨论了这些发现对寄宿制学校的意义。