Strategies in Developing the Student Self: The Production and Maintenance of Collective Identities in a Midwest School Setting

• NCJ Number: 216623
• Journal: Journal of Knowledge and Best Practices in Juvenile Justice and Psychology Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 25-34
• Author(s): William Crawley; Joel Ritsema
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study explored how collective identities or peer groups were produced and maintained within a diverse suburban high school setting, and how different groups came to see themselves in opposition to others.

Abstract

Several trends were identified from survey responses. First, three groups appeared with markedly greater frequency than others: “Preps” or “Preppy,” “Goths” or “Gothics,” and “Ghetto” or “Black.” Other trends that developed were relative to how respondents described these three groups. Students in the study often stated that observing others’ physical appearance was the primary method they used in categorizing their peers. The study revealed a student population with deep cultural and racial divisions. Groups that appeared outside the set standards and norms seemed to be on some level marginalized and snubbed by other students. Each group, Preps, Goths, and Black students, all appreciated the diversity within the student body. Cultural and racial differences between students produced differing and often contradictory values system, which in turn produced the types of inter-group tensions seen in this study. The research indicates a need to develop more holistic strategies for student integration. The intent of this article was to explore the social and cultural forces that produce the conditions for conflict to occur within a student body. Through extensive interviews, focus group interactions, and direct observations, the study examined how collective identities or peer groups were produced and maintained within a diverse suburban high school setting, and how different groups came to see themselves in opposition to others. It also examined how a student’s sense of self developed and transformed relative to their peers and to schooling. It examined how they placed themselves and came to be placed within certain social typologies. References