in 1997, during the summer, i lived uptown in washington heights. i worked for fresh youth initiatives, or fyi, a progressive social service agency for community youths. that summer, i completed my first service with young people. together, we learned all about different kinds of art, and the youths drew and painted original artwork for a community calendar. near the end of the summer, we also designed and completed a large mural on the east wall of a major store at 171st and broadway. in the middle of the long wall, the youths painted: "who am i?" below, they drew neighborhood landmarks and highlighted scenes from their lives. they said: "i am washington heights." "i am somebody." "i am america."
i've been especially interested in identity since i was a young adult. i can remember wondering: "is this me?" "is this how i sound?" "is this what i'd say?" as an adult, i am still very invested in identity. i deeply believe that identity, identity achievement, and identity exploration, are essential for positive personal development. in fact, i focused my social work research and study on identity and youth development. my research is specifically interested in the relationship between ethnic identity and prosocial youth development. (warning: geeky stuff below)
identity theory and research is largely directed by the early research of erik erikson. erikson proposed that individuals confront specific psychological challenges at identified developmental stages. for example, major stages of development include the individual achievement of trust, autonomy, identity, and intimacy. however, the negative resolution of development stages includes mistrust, isolation, identity confusion, and despair.
erikson determined that the primary crisis in adolescent development is the exploration and achievement of a stable ego identity. erikson explained that identity is the synthesis of individual beliefs, behaviors, and experiences. in his continued research, erikson identified two primary dimensions of identity: personal identity and social identity. our personal identity constructs a private self, including our core attitudes, behaviors, and values. in contrast, the public self demonstrates our external orientation, including an active personality or social type in the context of other individuals or groups.
subsequent research demonstrates that identity exploration and identity achievement is especially important for individuals of racial or religious ethnicity. scholars followed the basic structure of psychosocial identity developed by erikson. however, they further detailed specific components of personal and social identity. for example, significant research explores ethnic identity. ethnic identity includes the individual affirmation of beliefs, behaviors, traditions, and values from a shared culture, race or religion.
in my research, i specifically review ethnic jewish identity. jewish identity has been extensively researched by community leaders, psychologists and social scientists. however, there is considerable disagreement on the specific variables used to measure jewish identity. i contend that jewish identity must be measured within the established research and theory on psychosocial identity, including ethnic identity.
in short, ethnic jewish identity does not privilege any specific belief, behavior, or tradition. in contrast, it measures the collective elements of jewish belief and behavior, including community, culture, and religion. this definition recognizes that individuals define and connect to judaism and jewish culture in very diverse ways. we can measure the relative strength and resiliency of individual ethnic jewish identity. however, we cannot marginalize specific belief or practice.
if you'd like to learn more about my specific research, follow the links below.
to view a summary of my research project, please read the "survey of ethnic jewish identity: the jewish academy of metropolitan detroit" (2004)
to learn more about the specific construct of ethnic jewish identity, please view the survey administered to students.
Part I: Student Demographics
Part II: Multigroup Ethnic Identity Survey
Part III: Ethnic Jewish Identity
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