Cardinal Clancy Centre for Research in the Spiritual, Moral, Religious and Pastoral Dimensions of Education.
Spiritual, Moral and Religious Education is a Flagship area for Research in Australian Catholic University

The development of identity:   Implications for Religious Education

By Graham Rossiter, Professor of Religious Education, Director of the Cardinal Clancy Centre for Research in the Spiritual, Moral, Religious and Pastoral Dimensions of Education, Australian Catholic University, Sydney. Australia.

(G.M Rossiter, 2001,   The development of identity:   Implications for Religious Education, in M. Ryan (Ed.)  Echo and Silence:  Contemporary issues for Australian Religious Education, Social Science Press, Wentworth Falls (NSW).)

Introduction:   Young people's search for meaning and identity

In September 1998, the Australian Bishops’ Committee for Justice, Development and Peace released the Report, Young People and the Future.   It resulted from a two year consultation with Catholic youth.   One of three areas of special concern for participants was "identity and the search for meaning"   (The other areas were unemployment, and drug and alcohol abuse.   Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, 1998).

Though not as tangible an issue as unemployment or drug and alcohol abuse, the need for young people to find ways of making meaning in their lives and to develop an authentic sense of self is fundamental to their moral and spiritual wellbeing.   Hence it should be central to any strategies that hope to address the full range of concerns in the Report (and indeed the issues noted in other research reports on the views, attitudes and behaviour of contemporary youth).   Where young people are strong and somewhat secure in their sense of purpose, and sure of who they are, they will be better able to cope with and respond creatively to the psychological pressures of life in modern Western societies.

In a changing social, economic and familial landscape, most of the support networks for meaning and identity that functioned for past generations no longer have the same plausibility and force.   For many young people, the beliefs about life's meaning drawn from religious convictions and from the Church do not seem to have the same cogency they apparently had in the past.   In an environment awash with ways to make meaning and finding the 'true self', there is an urgent need for the churches to find strategies that will resonate with young people in their search for meaning, values and identity.

This chapter will examine a number of issues related to the nature and development of identity;   implications will be proposed for the theory and practice of religious education -- specifically in the school context.   The discussion will also be pertinent to thinking about youth ministry and theology generally -- because the perceived relevance of theology, ministry and religious education depends on how well they can make meaningful connections with the questions that contemporary youth ask about identity and a spiritual dimension to life.   The challenge is to find ways of making the Church's 2000 year heritage of wisdom articulate with young people's perceived life world.

What will emerges is an argument that religious education and theology need to be expressed with a language and focus that are more in tune with the contemporary search for identity and meaning which is such a prominent concern of western cultures -- especially for youth.   If not, and if the principal focus appears to be 'institutional maintenance' or some other theme like 'integrity of doctrine' or 'spiritual/moral authority' etc. then many youth and adults will not bother looking to the Church for the spiritual guidance and support they need.

Identity issues for religious education

Commonly the aims for religious education include the development of religious identity.   Identity is central to thinking about culture and ethnicity;   thus identity development is relevant to education, although the educational role is not always clearly specified.   Identity is also prominent in psychological theories such as those of Erikson and Kegan.   While no doubt identity is a human property of fundamental importance, like spirituality, it is difficult to define and the processes through which it is formed are complex and difficult to analyse.   I assume that spirituality makes an important contribution to identity (and vice versa).   What follows will look into some identity issues that I find of interest to reflect on their implications for school religious education.

Specification of the meaning of identity

The reason identity is fundamentally important for individuals and education, and why it is difficult to analyse, is because its meaning emerges from efforts to answer the fundamental questions:  "Who am I?" and "Who are we?"   The questions have simple answers:  the individual is named historical person.   And profound ones:   how the individual understands himself/herself may always remain something of a mystery.   Identity can be both a given, physical, unchanging entity while at the same time a life long process of change.   At some psychological level, people may spend all of their lives reflecting on and articulating for themselves partial answers to questions about their needs, moods, beliefs, purpose, motivations and values.

Individuals can be thought of as having multiple component identities which blend to constitute a distinct individual.   Each identity relates to some aspect of their lives or to some membership which contributes to a description of the individual.   Each identity is like a lens for viewing the individual;   it highlights who they are and where they stand.   This list is not definitive;   its aim is to show how there are different and interrelated aspects of identity.

While a preliminary list like this helps show the complexity of the concept identity, it does not necessarily help educators who seek an understanding of identity that yields useful implications for education.   In what follows, I will examine some issues with the aim of working towards such an educational understanding that might help clarify a role for religious education in fostering identity development in young people.

My preliminary assumption would be that the identity components "Moral, spiritual, religious, psychological, and ideals" would be of special interest for religious education, while not ignoring the role that other components would have in the lives of individuals.

Theory and research on identity

The developmental theorists:   contributions to self understanding

Theories and research on the nature and development of identity are concerned with interpreting the behaviour of individuals, trying to understand the underlying psychological processes that affect their development as human persons.   Not all of the theories of human development focus specifically on identity;   nevertheless, a number of them contribute helpful ideas for understanding the concept.   Reference to these writings can help religious educators become better interpreters of what is happening in the lives of young people, more empathetic, and more capable of making their religious and moral education relevant to the human development of youth.

Because psychological theories help with self understanding, especially with insight into the motivations that stem genetically from the organism at the different stages of biological development, and with perspective on the influence of the social/cultural environment, they can be used as resources for exploring identity.   The theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, Erikson, Fowler, Kegan and Oser, which can be generically referred to as 'structural-developmental' theories, each has a distinctive viewpoint on personal development.

Identity formation is at the centre of Erikson's psychological theory (Erikson, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1980).   Expanding and refining Freudian psychodynamic theory, Erikson saw the drive towards self understanding going through a series of 'developmental tasks' that predominate at particular stages of the individual's life cycle;   human development proceeds as individuals gradually resolve the distinctive conflicts characteristic of each developmental stage.   For the adolescent, Erikson proposed that the major task was in exploring relationships -- seeking personal intimacy and moving away from a sense of isolation.

Piaget's initial ideas on the emergence of moral reasoning in the child were expanded by Kohlberg (1984) who focused on the different levels at which moral reasoning relates to behaviour.   However, it needs to be recognised that moral reasoning is only one of the factors that influence the development of a 'moral identity'.   Other cultural factors like social conditioning and genetic factors like personality type have an influence on behaviour;   the level of moral reasoning is not always the prime determinant.

Fowler's theory of human faith development focused on the changing patterns in the believing process (Fowler, 1981, 1986, 1987).   It reflects the evolution of the ways the individual's beliefs shape personal meaning -- from more dependent, derivative meaning from family and social groups, through conformity to authority and dominant groups, towards a more autonomous and eventually an expansive faith.   By contrast with Fowler's theory, Oser's theory of spiritual development focused more exclusively on the level of cognitive activity linked with different stages of belief (Oser, 1993).

The structural developmental theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, Fowler and Oser all imply that the universe of personal meaning within which individuals understand their own behaviour can be very authority dependent at earlier stages and more autonomous and interpersonal later on.   In the later stages, individuals are better able to cope with conflicting views without collapsing the tensions between them.   The universalist stage in the Fowler scheme suggests that the sense of personal identity has developed such intrinsic security that it no longer needs the sharp boundaries between belief systems / religions.

Reflections on writings about identity

Only a limited comment will be offered here on other writings about identity which I have found helpful for education;   the discussion begins with reflection on two review articles by Wilna Meijer (1991, 1995).

Meijer considered that the more traditional understandings of personal identity were too biological and inflexible;  they tended to define identity as a relatively fixed entity that is influenced by particular group self-understandings into which individuals are socialised.   She saw this emphasis as educationally problematic because in Western countries the cultural milieu is characterised by rapid social change and international, interethnic, intercultural and interreligious communication.   She claimed that it was inappropriate to propose the development of identity as an educational aim because its narrowness was incompatible with the democratic and pluralistic ideals of these communities.

While not agreeing with all aspects of Meijer's argument, I think that the points she raised need to be addressed because there is much evidence that a narrow, exclusivist view of personal and group identities is at the centre of much human conflict -- conflict that ranges from arguments between students about sporting teams through to the centuries old ingrained hatreds that continue to fuel killing and displacement in the name of ethnic cleansing.

Meijer examined two views of identity at opposite ends of a spectrum.   The first understood personal identity as a fixed inner core or kernel to the individual which remains constant throughout the life cycle.   At the other extreme is the view typified by Nietzsche that personal identity is an illusion or an artificial construct;  the individual is an aggregation of changing emotions, desires and ideas.   In rejecting both the inherent identity and the option of no identity at all, Meijer turned to the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur which understood identity as a process of interpretation of personal history.   This psychological understanding regarded identity as the end product of reflection on personal experience, allowing for continual adjustment.

Meijer attempted to sidestep the problems within a socialised personal identity with its relatively permanent, unchanging, and externally defined characteristics by stressing personal interpretation as the primary identity forging process.

This human potential for reflection is more fundamental than identity, for identity-as-interpretation is the outcome of reflection.   Personal identity, therefore, is necessarily tentative, to be reflected upon, reconsidered and revised again and again.   Education should therefore not aim at identity-development or identity-formation, but at rational autonomy, independence and responsibility, the capacity to make informed choices or at personhood. (Meijer, 1995, p. 95)

Meijer's approach, which stresses the need for continual change and development in identity, is useful for identifying problems that result from defining identity as fixed or as an illusion;  also she shows how personal interpretation of experience can be a valuable component of identity which allows for change and development in self understanding.   However, she seems to overstate the importance of psychological reflection and to underrate the place for the less reflective, unconscious elements..   This does not give an adequate account of the important role that the externals of culture and social interaction play in identity processes.   Also, a legitimate concern in education for identity development need not necessarily be thought of as opposed to efforts to promote rational autonomy, independence, responsibility and informed decision making;  all of these elements seem to be desirable, natural qualities in a person with a healthy, mature identity.   Meijer's ideas on identity seem more relevant for mature educated adults who are in better position to choose components in their identity;   young people are only taking initial steps in this direction.   Intercultural, interethnic and interfaith communication are desirable processes but they are not so much a given in pluralistic communities (an impression one gets from Meijer's writing).   Such levels of dialogue and communication are difficult goals to work towards even with adults -- tolerance, respect and desire to communicate across social/cultural/religious boundaries do not come easily.   Education (religious education) can aim at fostering first steps in such communication;  this is not incompatible with a sense of particular religious identity.

Meijer's conclusions do not give an adequate account of the role of given or cultural elements in the formation of identity, and consequently, her ideas about the links between education and identity development are too limited.

Contrasting with Meijer's view, but also complementing it, is that of psychoanalytic theorist Brennan who argued that the identity of the individual depended on perceived relatively fixed points because it depended on its identifications with others and ideas to maintain its sense of individual distinctness or identity (Brennan, 1993, p. xii).   The sense of identity depended on images of the self received from others -- images that remained relatively constant in relation to the movement of life.   Individuals needed these psychic fixed points.   But these fixed points could hold the individual back from further change and development.   Brennan argued that these relatively fixed points for the definition of identity were reinforced by the construction of commodities in the social world.   She claimed that while psychic fixed points "blocked the mobility of psychic energy", technological commodities, unless they were constructed with care, could block the regeneration of nature and natural energy.

In response to the question "Who are you?" individuals could answer immediately and directly "I know who I am." from their sense of personal continuity;   given basic mental and physical health this remains a constant.   But at a deeper level, the answer to that question will always be changing, even if slowly as the individual grows older, responding to new experiences and new challenges;  and these change factors are often external to the individual;  they may catalyse (or in strong/traumatic cases, force) a personal revision of identity to a greater or lesser extent.   Having both a sense of permanence and flexibility in identity is not contradictory;  Meijer's view gives the impression that we need to opt more exclusively for the latter.   While some may change their self understanding and behaviour in response to new circumstances and education in its various forms, others may not -- consciously reinforcing an established self image against any invitation to change.

Personal identity is like a well established 'working hypothesis of the self' as to what sort of a person you think you are and would like to be.   For most, this self understanding is relatively stable and usually changes only gradually, especially if individuals like this picture of self (positive self esteem).   For others, the self hypothesis may be insecure and fragile -- often, or from time to time.

This understanding of identity acknowledges that externals and social interaction are crucial reference points and raw material for identity.   For some, the problem with identity is precisely a lack of the sort of reflection that Meijer sees as constitutive to identity;  they may give little or no thought to identity but may live with the stereotypes and values they have absorbed unconsciously;  they display an identity by default.   The implied identity that is embedded in behaviour can be linked with the thought of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1977) on what he calls 'life structure'.   He defined this as the presumed values, ideas and beliefs that are implied in the way individuals spend their time and engage in activity.   It is like an identity portrait of individuals painted through the way they spend time and invest energy.   No matter what individuals might say about identity and preferred values, their life structure is the litmus test of their authenticity.   Bourdieu's ideas as relevant to identity are explained in Warren (1994).

Some individuals could be considered to have identity conflict or identity ill-health.   This means a hiatus between self understood identity and the implied identity that others perceive and interpret in their behaviour.   This hiatus would indicate a lack of realistic reflection on self;  or the self reflection being deluded.

A major point of relevance for education is the hope that the educational process may in some way inform self understanding -- fostering an identity that is open to enhancement through education -- so that individuals' identity might include the resource of being 'reflective' and 'evaluative', helping them be open to considered change.   This would imply that one role for education (religious education) is to help people understand something of the complex processes in the formation of identity -- hence the relevance of research and developmental theories.

Social psychological view of identity (the Symbolic Interactionist theory)

Another avenue in social psychological theory which underlines the importance of external reference points for identity development is the Symbolic Interactionist school of sociology.   The writings of the early sociologist C. H. Cooley (1864-1928) proposed the idea of the Looking Glass Self -- that the image of self is in part derived from reflections of the self that an individual encounters through interaction with others (Cooley, 1998).   This followed through into the thinking of the symbolic interactionist school of sociology -- .for example, Herbert Blumer's (1969) views that social interaction had a major influence on self-understanding.   How individuals are viewed and treated by others have a significant bearing on their acquisition of values, beliefs, self image and self esteem.   This thought is also prominent in theories for the social construction of reality -- as evident in the sociological theory Berger and Luckmann (1967).   It is also pertinent in writings / research concerned with education for self esteem -- more will be said about this area later.

Other psychological insights into identity:   Exaggerated individualism

How individuals think about and relate to others is influenced by their own self definition.   Getting the basic personal, gender and cultural identity boundaries clearer is one of the developmental tasks for children and adolescents.   The earlier, brief discussion of developmental theories looked at changes in thinking about self at different phases of the life cycle.

What will be consider here are theories about the way people may be seduced into a sense of identity that is subtly constructed for them as a marketable package by power/economic/advertising/media groups in society.   One of the crucial tasks for religious education would seem to be alerting young people to these dangers to their own humanness and authentic identity.

Max Weber in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, suggested that the religious revolution of the Reformation and its influence on the rise of individualism set the stage for the development of capitalist societies in the West (Weber, 1930).   He did not claim that this was the only factor which promoted the rise of capitalism;  but he saw it as an important influence which contrasted with a more spiritual interpretation of culture and history.

The French psychoanalytic theorist Jacques Lacan proposed that in turn, capitalist society has accelerated the emphasis on individualism to the point that many people suffer from a social psychosis of individualism -- trying to live out a massive ego fantasy.   He considered that much of their anxiety comes from the frustration of unrealistic personal desires;  the drive for higher production rates and profits has an ever increasing negative effect on the psychic environment in which people live, and it tends to strongly colour the social reference points they draw on for self understanding and identity (Lacan, in Miller, 1977).

These identity reference points are reinforced by the manufacture and marketing of commodities which strengthen the hold of the psychosis;  and the reference points become entrenched, trapping people into an identity and search for meaning in what are ultimately unrealistic, naturally frustrating and basically antisocial fantasies.   The result is a psychotic idea of identity in the service of free enterprise.   Brennan (1993, pp. 1-25), an interpreter of Lacan, suggested further that this post-enlightenment psychosis of individualism blocks flexibility to human identity development involving relationships with other people and nature, and in turn this causes degradation of the social and physical environments.

Lacan's theory suggests that individualism tends to

make the world over in its own image by reducing the lively heterogeneity of living nature and diverse cultural orders to a grey mirror of sameness.  And it can only do this by consuming living nature in producing a proliferation of goods and services whose possession becomes the sine qua non of the good life.   Of course, if nature is endlessly consumed in the pursuit of a totalising course, then that course is dangerous for living;  it constitutes a danger to one's own survival, as well as that of others.  (Brennan, 1993, p. 4).

Brennan then went on to assign a new meaning to the familiar acronym PMT -- Pre Millennial Tension -- to describe the condition in a society ambivalent about its various descriptions as postindustrial, postmodern, poststructural, post cold-war etc. while being anxious that it has no analysis that will readily give a hopeful sense of future direction.

The relationships between self esteem and identity

Care is needed with the idea of self esteem as it relates to identity.   Self esteem may not always be unconditionally positive;   for example, some individuals may have a sense of identity that is arrogant, intolerant, aggressive and hurtful to others -- and they may feel comfortable and happy with this picture (high self esteem?)   The moral value of the 'content' of identity cannot be dismissed under the democratic guise of being equally respectful and tolerant of all identities.   The limits to tolerance are set by the rights, freedoms and responsibilities of citizens protected by law.   This would also become an important consideration in any examination of the relationships between identity and violence.

In responding to this issue, I find that a useful working definition of self esteem is:   the dynamic link between what individuals think about their personal identity and how they feel about this;   it has both a descriptive content (their self perceived qualities as a person) and a powerful affective dimension (how comfortable or satisfied they feel with that image of self).   For example, people may feel more or less comfortable with their self understanding and about how this is reflected to others;  or there may be a fundamental, almost unconscious, unarticulated, doubt about their value -- they may feel that if others only knew what they were really like, they would find them unattractive and undesirable.

While it may be transparently evident to an adult that a particular young person feels he/she is unloved and perhaps unloveable, this may be something that the young person is not able to comprehend or admit.   Sensitive adults and teachers often make an accurate diagnosis of this condition in young people;   but it is not easy to change.   It is not just a matter of identifying the problem for the young person;  neither is it resolved by a small dose of what has been called 'unconditional affirmation.'   It can be a psychological difficulty that individuals carry throughout their lives, often a cause of distress to themselves and to those close to them.

One of the issues for educators (and for the community generally) is how to address problems of low self-esteem in youth.   What people usually describe as poor self esteem has two aspects:-

*    Firstly, the image of self that individuals with low self esteem have is often harsh and unfavourable;  it may not be an accurate picture, but for them it represents reality.

*    Secondly, despite any outward show of self confidence, they feel unhappy and uncomfortable with their self image.

Any therapeutic efforts to redress the problem, as well as any generally supportive educational process, need to focus on the dual aspects of self-esteem.   They should look at the question of the degree of satisfaction individuals have with their perceived identity, and at some evaluation of its 'human-ness' or personal qualities.   By stressing the evaluative element, I seek to address the limitations in the so called 'self esteem movement' in education that seems to operate out of a too simplified understanding of self-esteem, and also out of questionable empirical measures of self-esteem.

While few people would oppose the idea that education should help improve students' perceptions of their own worth, the related theory, research and practice are, in my opinion, somewhat vague and unconvincing.   I refer specifically to the analysis of Kohn (1994) which I have found insightful.   Part of the problem has been the way self-esteem is conceptualised and operationally defined for purposes of empirical research.

Coopersmith, one of the earliest self-esteem researchers in the United States, understood self-esteem with an evaluative emphasis:  "a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes the individual holds toward himself." (Coopersmith, 1967, p. 5)   However, when it came to developing self report questionnaires for measuring self esteem, the evaluation of personal characteristics (a complex task) was not prominent.   As a result, the many instruments for measuring self-esteem were concerned primarily with subjects' responses to questions about how favourably they felt about themselves.   Immediately there was a problem in that the findings might say more about how individuals wished to appear than about what they really felt about their 'true' self, presuming that this could be known accurately.   The findings reported on confidence and self-satisfaction -- but not about what sort of a person individuals perceived themselves to be.   Hitler may well have scored well on self-esteem scales!   Some researchers suggested that those who scored highly tended to be the ones who demonstrated "a willingness to endorse favourable statements about the self as a result of an ambitious, aggressive, self-aggrandising style of presenting themselves." (Kohn,1994, p. 273).   With difficulties like this, it is not surprising that many research studies linking educational programs with gains in self-esteem (or research linking behavioural problems with low self-esteem) have, in the main, shown no significant correlation -- and therefore questionable evidence of causation.

The ambivalence and inconclusiveness of this psychological research does not seem to have inhibited the educational interest in fostering self esteem.   The focus of curriculum materials concerned with self-esteem which have appeared since the 1970s has been on simple, unconditional student affirmation -- telling students 'how special they are'.   (See for example the titles Self Esteem:  A family affair, Clark, 1978;  and Self Esteem, a classroom affair:  101 ways to help children like themselves, Borba and Borba, 1978).   While no doubt such student materials may have been helpful to the limited role that classroom teaching might have in fostering self-esteem, they did not try to present a picture of the complex personal processes through which self understanding, self image and self valuing develop.   There are two dangers in the 'I am special' approach:   Firstly, it can trivialise the importance and complexity of the concept as far as student personal growth is concerned.   Secondly, its focus on the individual is yet another aspect of education that could tend to encourage self centredness and self preoccupation.   An approach to self-esteem education that focuses primarily and directly on psychological self enhancement might end up being narcissistic (this will be referred to again later in the chapter);  it might distract attention from social and community aspects;  it could overlook the importance of analysing economic, political and social factors that have an influence on how people are valued and devalued.   These structural aspects might be having more influence on self-esteem than any simple self analysis procedures.

Film, television and advertising:   the most prominent identity-building resources in the culture

Perhaps more than any element of culture and socialisation, film and television provide young people with access to a vast range of identity building resources.   A detailed discussion of this issue has been presented in Rossiter, 1996, 1997 1999B.

Film, television and commercial advertising are well attuned to a number of the critical tensions/polarities in the psychological identity-building processes for young people.   For example:-

between the group and the individual;    between internationalism and nationalism;

between group required behaviour patterns and autonomy;    between freedom and responsibility.

Film and television have contributed to an increasingly internationalised perspective for young people;   however, while this tends to soften boundaries and distinctions that seem to be more important for older generations, and while it promotes a greater sense of global 'brotherhood/sisterhood' and 'neighbourhood', it does not extinguish a sense of nationalism in identity.   Certainly the commercial world is pragmatically alert to the tension between universalism and individual distinctiveness;   it targets young people for purchases that will reinforce both aspects.   While we may tend to think of identity mainly as a psychological sense of self, something that is primarily internal, it is a mistake to underestimate the importance of externals which can contribute much to self expression.

Items like clothing, hairstyle, preferred music, and fashion have something to say about identity, especially for teenagers.   The quest for identity is easily exploited by commercial interests and the media.   What may appear to another generation as unthinking conformity is of importance to the younger generation as a way of finding security and belonging within a group.   Many commercial industries have developed more or less to cater for the identity experimentation of youth;   they manufacture not only the clothes, food, CDs etc. for individual self-expression, but, through advertising, promote the images and moods that will be most likely fuel young people's desire to purchase their products.   Music and fashion, especially that generated initially in the United States and the United Kingdom, serve as an international fund of resources for the self expression and self understanding of youth.

The problems with universal marketing is that advertising focuses on how to sell values increasingly geared to processes, not things.   Sales appeals directed toward the values of individualism, experimentalism, person-centredness, direct experience, and some forms of pleasure and escape will need to tap intangibles – human relationships, feeling, dreams, and hopes – rather than tangible things or explicit actions.

While consumerism and advertising laud and reinforce both the ideas and images of 'freedom' and 'individuality', at the same time they may subtly seduce people into thinking that the acquisition of marketable commodities will satisfy identity needs.   The meshing of market strategies with perceived identity needs may be successfully promoting what might be called a 'retail identity' or a 'commodity identity'.   Any educational investigation of identity forming processes needs to address these issues.

The crisis of identity for young  males

About twenty years ago, Australian education authorities were funding programs for girls which aimed at increasing access and equity in educational opportunity for young women.   Programs such as these tried to address some of the effects of the long standing and ingrained cultural bias against opportunities and status for women in the community.   However, as far as school is concerned (for example in New South Wales), girls now significantly outperform boys in more than 75% of study subjects in the final year of schooling.   But the issue is not just a difference in academic performance.

There is increasing evidence in Australia especially, and in other post industrialised countries, that boys have disturbingly high rates of personal and social problems.   A peak indicator is the high suicide rate.   This is also a problem for young women, but for young men the rate is significantly higher.   Other measures of disturbance show in the high risk of dropping out of school, alcohol abuse, taking drugs, being involved in criminal activity, being unemployed and being homeless.   Beneath these indicators there is probably a level of depression, unhappiness, dissatisfaction and purposelessness amongst boys that warrant serious attention.

As noted in the earlier discussion, a part cause of the youth problems for both boys and girls is the lack of sufficient meaning to give direction and motivation for life.   However, there seems to be some other factor for boys, and it could well be related to their sense of male identity.

Almost 30 years ago, an interesting reader was published about the experience of growing up male.   In the introduction, editors Pleck and Sawyer (1974, pp. 3-4) summarised the male identity crisis as follows.   I have included an extended quotation because of its significance:

Boys are treated, and are expected to behave in certain ways defined as masculine. . .. the masculine role says that we males are supposed to seek achievement and suppress emotion.   We are to work at 'getting ahead' and 'staying cool'.

As boys we learn that getting ahead is important in both work and play.   Grades are handed out in school, teams are chosen on the playground and both of these events tell us how well we are doing and how much better we could be doing.   Here our masculinity is tested in immediate physical competition with others.   Moment by moment, our performance is measured in relation to others.   Both in winning and in losing, the masculine role exerts strong influence.   It is not enough to win once, we have to keep winning.   The continuing evaluation in relation to others encourages us to keep trying, but also insures that we can't ever really make it, once and for all.   Our learned need to keep proving ourselves helps explain why many of us -- no matter how hard we work or how much we achieve -- remain vaguely dissatisfied with our lives.

As males grow older, the bases for evaluation change, but the importance of establishing a ranking of work among individuals remains.   As adults, the physical skills that were reflected in sports become less important than the mental and social skills that are reflected in prestige and income.   What we learn growing up prepares us for these adult skills and rewards.   As adolescents, one important area we were rated on was our social facility with females.   Trying to get on well with females created anxiety for many of us, but mainly we accepted the situation as just another place where we should try to ignore our fears and go ahead.

Staying cool, no matter what, was part of what we learned growing up male.   We knew that big boys didn't cry, and that real men didn't get too excited except in places like football games.   Spontaneous emotion -- positive or negative -- was suppressed or restricted to certain settings.   We learned to mute our joy, repress our tenderness, control our anger, hide our fear.   The eventual result of our not expressing emotion is not to experience it.

Our restriction of emotionality compounds the stress put upon us by our striving to get ahead:  we are often unable to acknowledge fully how the striving makes us feel.   We suffer in many ways that may related to the strain our emotional denial places upon our physical body.   Compared with women, we die younger, have more heart attacks, and contract more stress related diseases.

The drive towards getting ahead and staying cool has functioned, more or less well for men as individuals and for society as a whole for a long time.   Much work has been accomplished, and many troubling feelings have been avoided.   The masculine role has provided answers about who we are and what to do.   But for ... some men what the masculine role offers is insufficient.   Some of us no longer find our fulfilment in external rewards that come from meeting masculine standards; instead we seek internal satisfaction that comes form fuller emotional involvement in our activities and relationships.

It is disconcerting to think that these issues raised so long ago still seem to be very pertinent to the stressed situation of many young men -- even though issues like poor employment options and a greater sense of public anomie are now more prominent.   One might ask why have these issues not been addressed more successfully in the community in ways that might make significant inroads into changing the patterns through which young men seek a sense of masculinity.   This remains the case, even though there have been many recent books and articles on masculinity (Connell, 1995;  Edley and Wetherell, 1995;   Biddulph, 1995, 1997;  Tacey, 1997, 2000 -- to name a number of mainly Australian authors).   There is an urgent need for more carry-through from the thinkers/ writers/ researchers on masculinity to young people, families and educators.

By contrast with the apparently slow progress of a 'men's movement', in the same thirty year period since this reader was published, the objectives of the 'women's movement' have had extensive coverage and many of them have been achieved.   Boys have acknowledged that girls seem to have more social support and sense of direction from the women's movement in its various forms (this term is used with considerable generalisation here, without the opportunity to look at the many issues and meanings attached to the phrase 'women's movement'.   The point being made is that young males do not seem to have similar useful cultural identity resources compared with those available to young women.)   Traditional concepts of masculinity have been challenged by the women's movement, adding to the uncertainty, confusion and questioning of the male role.   Greater freedom of expression and acceptance for homosexuality within the community might also add to young men's identity problem.   For some young men, perhaps even a significant proportion, the way to express their masculinity in a satisfying way remains a considerable problem.

Other identity related issues

While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to extend the analysis of identity related issues further, I think it is important to signpost some other areas that warrant investigation.   These are areas where educators need to have background information and critical reflection that will inform their educational interactions with young people whenever issues for identity surface.    (See:    wwwdev.acau.edu.au/mre/spirituality_identity/       )

The changing place for Work in personal identity and self-esteem

The extent to which individuals define themselves in terms of their work can contribute much energy to work, but it can be a source of psychological and social problems -- especially for men, and for families.   New flexibilities in work and employment in technological societies call for different understandings of the human meaning of work and leisure.

Personal identity and the economy

Economic policies, and the often unarticulated values that underpin them and resultant effects on industry, trade and employment, are having a significant influence on the physical, social and cultural environment in which people live.   Consideration needs to be given to the ways in which individuals can live creatively and happily in such an environment, and to how they might call into question the values and economic processes in society that are ultimately dehumanising.

Identity relationships with the non-human world

Individual and community identities need to be referenced not only to human interactions but also to the non-human world -- in its physical and biological aspects.   The separation of human identity from the non-human world (earth, plants and animals) has been an influential component of the thinking that underpins the continued degradation of the environment;   it sustains a mentality of dominance and exploitation.   A more holistic (and ecologically sustainable) understanding of human identity is needed.

Identity, ethnicity and multiculturalism in a pluralistic community

How education might relate to questions about ethnicity and multiculturalism in a pluralistic community need to be worked out in more detail.

Identity, human conflict and violence

Human conflict often has a strong identity component to it.   There is a need to explore the issue educationally in the hope that the boundaries set by different cultural, ethnic or national identities will not be used as a justification for conflict and violence -- either psychological or physical.

A conceptualisation of identity that is useful for religious education

Taking into account the components to identity and the ideas in the literature considered earlier, the following conceptualisation is proposed as one that is helpful for thinking about the role of religious education in fostering identity development.   It presumes that interpretation of meaning is central to religious education and that helping individuals to become wise interpreters of life is one of its foremost aims.

For educational purposes, identity can be regarded as a process in which individuals draw on both internal and cultural resources for their self understanding and self expression.

Identity, from this perspective, is a complex of internal and external elements;   the externals are relevant to identity when they are important reference points for self understanding and self expression.   'Identity health' can be thought of as a harmonious balance between internal and external identity resources.   It can be proposed that identity should be based mainly on internal elements like beliefs, values and commitments -- these are tied up with attitudes and motivations;   too great an identification with externals weakens individuals' autonomy and makes them slaves to expectations from outside, rather than inner directed.   However, it would be problematic to expect individuals to be so spiritually strong and independent to be totally dependent on their own internal resources for identity and meaning.   It seems to be a fundamental part of the human condition to need the help of others and access to external cultural resources for making sense of life, for the experience of happiness and a sense of fulfilment.   Identity development and maintenance have an important interpersonal component.

What individuals think of themselves and what they do to express themselves, particularly their individuality, display their identity.   This view of identity is useful for education because it emphasises the importance of education generally, and religious education in particular, in helping give young people access to cultural resources -- including religion -- to assist with their self understanding and self expression.   Also, this view lends itself to the interpretation of behaviour in the light of motivation, beliefs and values.   It has a strong psychological focus and is related to self knowledge and self-esteem, and to purpose and meaning in life.   This view of identity is like spirituality viewed from the perspective of self expression and self understanding.

This view sees identity as the consistent moral picture of the individual that emerges from their behaviour;   it is an expression of what sort of a person they are;   what they think of themselves and what sense they make of life and of their behaviour.   Identity has a momentum about it;   it is relatively fixed, but it can change.   It can be influenced by things like new experience that requires interpretation, personal reflection on life, relationship with God, a need for action, social change and comparisons with others;  it can be affected by perceptions of the view that others have of the individual;  also it can change in the light of perceptions of the identity of others -- especially if they are favoured role models.   Just as sense of self can be very dependent on social interaction so identity can be influenced and sustained by it.

This view provides a useful interpretative framework for the educator which helps give focus to teaching related to identity development.   What is taught relates to this in two ways.

Firstly, giving students educational access to the content (traditions, wisdom, experience, theology etc.) provides them with initial contact with potential identity building resources that they might not otherwise encounter.   Formal education can open them to larger cultural horizons, and to a broader imagination of the sort of person they could be, than they might otherwise encounter in their ordinary lives.   How such content is taught, how it is presented and studied in relationship with people's quest for meaning and identity, can help students sense that the educational process and its content are relevant for their personal development.

Secondly, this approach models for youth useful ways of interpreting their own identity development (indeed their whole spiritual development) in the light of a critical interpretation of culture.   It suggests to them that they need to learn to understand how cultural elements and their own internal needs/drives can contribute to the way they understand and express themselves.

This approach can foster young people's understanding of their own spiritual/moral development from an identity perspective.   For example:  it might foster the following understandings.

·         A strong sense of identity can be the driving force behind idealistic and humane action;   it can reinforce links with others from various groups;   and it can serve as a source of courage in adversity.

·         But at times, for various reasons, individuals' identity can be fragile.

·         A diffuse identity can lead to erratic and immoral behaviour.

·         A natural interest in maintaining and enhancing identity is healthy;   however, a concern to project a particular identity may be a facade protecting inner uncertainty and weakness.

·         Individuals may appeal to a particular identity to justify their actions -- both moral and immoral ones.

·         Anxiety about identity can be caused by various things, for example, ranging from the poor form of one's favourite sporting team, to fear that immigrants may threaten one's lifestyle, jobs and cultural dominance, or to moods that are biologically based.

·         How individuals and groups define themselves, and what cultural elements they draw on to do this, will reveal something about their values and their understanding of what it means to be human and to be spiritual.

·         There may be conflict between the identity individuals would like to propose for themselves and the identity that is actually implied in the way they live and express themselves.   "As individuals express their life, so they are." (Karl Marx, The German Ideology.)

This view of identity stresses the importance of inner identity resources -- this shows identity intimately linked with spirituality.   The advice that Polonius gave to Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet is relevant:   "To thine own self be true;  then if follows as surely as the day follows the night that thou shalt not be false to any man".   Inner truth is achieved firstly by knowing what one's moral identity and values are;   then there is fidelity to those commitments.

This 'languaging' of identity is essentially spiritual.   It is the same language that is appropriate in the exploration of Christian spirituality where love, inner truth, fidelity to commitments, social justice and identification with the marginalised are core gospel values.   This sort of language has been described elsewhere as a psychological spirituality (Rossiter, 1999A, p. 8) -- I consider this to be one of the most important developments in Catholicism since the Second Vatican Council.   Psychological spirituality evolved out of a blending of theology and psychology where the language focused the religious tradition on contemporary issues to help it become relevant to the lives of Christians.   This quest for relevance (and hence the focus of psychological spirituality) is even more crucial now if the faith tradition is to be of any perceived relevance to young people.   This language is useful because it helps translate gospel values and theology into contemporary psychological principles;   it helps relate the Christian gospel to people's lives.   As will be considered later in the chapter, one of the apparent reasons for the current decline in mainline Christianity is that the words the churches have traditionally used to encapsulate Christian teachings have lost much of their force.   The language of psychological spirituality could help make Christian spirituality and ministry more relevant and accessible for people today.

While this approach has much to offer, a caution is needed.   It is basically concerned with 'self development' and it is essentially 'self focused'.   It needs correctives to ensure that it does not deteriorate into narcissism -- that is, into self centredness and self preoccupation.   Stressing the importance of internal identity resources does not have to imply self centredness;   individuality does not have to exclude altruism;  autonomy does not have to exclude interdependence.   Christian spirituality has much to offer in its emphasis on fidelity to others -- a distinguishing feature of Jesus.   It states parabolically that individuals may find themselves best in the very process of giving themselves away for others;   social justice is central to Christian spirituality, and service is central to Christian ministry.   This view calls into question modern society's preoccupation with individuality and also its materialism.   The study of spirituality and identity in religious education needs to give voice to these values.

As noted above, the languaging of Christian spirituality in psychological terms has been one of the great advances in the Church since the 1950s.   However, this has been more or less limited to those who have studied the Social Sciences and Theology / Scripture (and related spirituality) from this perspective.   It has not yet made its presence felt widely in the regular homilies in parishes, although the situation is still changing slowly.   It is interesting to note that the movement called Spirituality in the pub in Australia in recent years is an example of this development, along with the programs in adult religious education and counselling institutes.

Spirituality is a core expression of identity.   The tendency towards secular spirituality in many youth (Crawford and Rossiter, 1996) is consistent with their inclination not to see religion, including their own particular tradition, as likely to have a prominent place in the way they work out their identity, values and purpose in life.   It can be said that this is not a new phenomenon because the description fits many nominally religious adults.   However, today's youth, as well as inheriting a tradition of secularisation, are subject from birth to an electronically conditioned, global village culture that colours their view of religion itself and offers many alternative sources of meaning and values that can be used for developing a sense of identity.

Young people do not start life with a relatively static cultural baseline;   for them, the constant as regards education, lifestyle, employment and entertainment is change itself.   Change may have become more of a natural ingredient in the formation of their personal identity.   They can tend to seek self understanding and self expression through keeping in tune with the latest trends in music, film, fashion, leisure, sport and technology with little reference to traditional beliefs and values;   even family traditions may have a minimal place in their self definition.

Also relevant to this discussion are questions about the maintenance of ethnic and national identities.   In the sort of world that today's young people live in, many conventional distinctions between groups of people have tended to lose their meaning and force.   They can go beyond common boundaries and draw elements of spirituality, identity and lifestyle in a trans-religious, trans-ethnic and trans-national way.   This could be regarded as valuable for developing a sense of global human community;   but there remains an ambivalence about identity that is evident in a tension between wanting to be universal yet distinctive, and in outbursts of racial prejudice and violence.

Education which aims at communicating a particular religious identity

The identity forming process needs to be supported by communities' efforts to communicate some basic sense of identity to children by giving them access to elements of familial, cultural and religious heritage that can be resources in helping them understand themselves and make sense of their life in society.   Otherwise their education could be presuming wrongly that they should be brought up in a type of identity vacuum until they are mature enough to determine their own identity, choosing rationally in the light of an appraisal of the many values and identity components available in a pluralist, multicultural society.

Educational efforts to communicate a particular religious identity do not have to be exclusivist, trying to impose a 'package deal' identity that precludes individuals' growing involvement in a more autonomous, reflective process of identity development.   Also, the values and identity components that a group wants to hand on to its young people should be kept open to evaluation;  the identity that a group desires to communicate should never be a hidden agenda.   It could serve as a basic starting point or baseline in identity development.   There can be the hope that young people might later affirm, embrace and enhance their religious identity;  but what eventuates is theirs to determine.

As well as an obvious interest in religious identity, Religious Education is concerned with fostering moral identity in young people.   Either consciously and/or as illustrated in their behaviour, they will have a moral profile of values, beliefs and commitments that gives direction to their lives and colours their interaction with others.   The conscious moral identity may not always coincide with the lived, operative or implied moral identity.

Conclusion

This chapter has touched on a number of identity related issues for young people.   These may be useful starting points for more systematic research on the ways they perceive a spiritual and moral dimension to life, and on the ways in which school religious education might make a more relevant contribution to their search for meaning, values and identity.   Hopefully too, the discussion will enhance the background from which teachers can address these issues within religious education, modelling the role of wise spiritual interpreters guiding young people's efforts to become themselves critical interpreters of culture in their personal quest for meaning, and for values to which they can commit themselves.

In considering implications for religious education and theology, the main proposal is the need for a focus and language which show that they are in tune with the ways young people ask questions about meaning, purpose and identity.   In other words a focus on search for meaning and an exploration of reasons for living.

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