I've been doing a bit of thinking on the subject lately, and I came across a good, brief explanation of social development. The entire article by Meredith Miller and Kara Powell is well worth your time, but here's what initially interested me:
Background: the Development of Four Basic Identity Phases
Beginning in the 1960’s, psychologist James Marcia (based on Erik Erikson’s work) developed four basic phases of identity development: diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement.1 The characteristics of each phase are as follows:
- Diffusion: This status can be understood as the “don’t know, don’t care” status. This stage describes adolescents who have not experienced any identity “crisis” or even done any exploration, nor do they have a stable set of commitments. Persons in diffusion have simply not thought about their identity. They are not sure what they believe about key issues such as religion, politics, gender roles, or occupation, nor are they concerned with them.
- Foreclosure: This is a status in which adolescents have definite opinions about their identity, but those opinions have been inherited from external forces rather than cultivated from within themselves. They have stable commitments, but have not experienced exploration or crisis. For example, they vote how their parents vote, not because they have chosen to agree with their parents, but because they have never questioned the political views they inherited.
- Moratorium: The moratorium status is the stage in which individuals challenge what they have inherited. They question who they are and what they believe and are unable to land on clearly defined beliefs and standards. This is the stage in which individuals challenge what they have inherited. For this reason, they will often express doubts and uncertainties about what they believe.
- Achievement: The goal of identity development is to reach the achieved status. It is the status wherein individuals have explored who they are and what they believe and hold stable commitments to a set of beliefs, values and standards. Their identity is defined, and they have thought through their perspectives.
The phases are progressive: foreclosure is further along than diffusion, moratorium is further along than foreclosure, and achievement is the most developed of them all.
I think it's well worth a youth pastor's time to become acquainted with basic human development theories and paradigms. I'm blessed to have a wife who majored in Human Development in college and graduated from seminary with a degree in counseling and chaplaincy, so she's a great resource to me (not to mention all her great books on the subject!). If you're looking for a good place to start, contact a nearby seminary or Christian college with a reputable youth ministry program.
