Originally created by Erik Erikson, James Marcia refined and extended an Erikson’s view on identity. This expansion is now called Marcia’s identity statuses. They consist of the following:
Identity Diffusion- in this status the adolescent has not made or is not trying to make a commitment in life.
Identity Foreclosure- in this status the adolescent has chosen to follow their parent’s opinion in life decisions
Identity Moratorium- in this status the adolescent has many choices and is ready to make a decision but has not made a commitment
Identity Achievement- in this status the adolescent has completed an identity crisis and has made a commitment to a sense of identity.
In this assignment a brief explanation of several individuals will be provided to show what status of Marcia’s they went through during their adolescent stage of life development.
Lakeisha Grayson’s portion
For Lakeisha Grayson, during her adolescence stage she placed herself in the status of identity foreclosure. Although she was never pressured by her family to choose one career or religion over another; she felt obligated to follow the same career goals as her father and continue into the same religion as she was raised in. Her father joined the military at the age of 18 out of high school and she did the same. She did not look at a college career as an option as she knew there was no college fund set aside for her. Lakeisha was ready to explore and be a part of the same experiences her father had in the military and was successful at it for 11 years.
Larry King’s portion
I currently fit into the identity achievement status. I am secure in myself as a bi-cultural man, Native American and Scots-Irish, as I hold both sections of my genetic makeup in high esteem. I am involved extensively in both cultures. I am the Holy Man of the Nuluti Equanhi Ehi Tribe of Native Americans and I am a Scottish Lord, both by heredity. I have title to a castle in the highlands of Scotland and my tribe holds title to our ancestor’s village site where we have a living village and cultural museum.
My values were instilled in me at a young age (Christian), from my Scots-Irish ancestors and also from my tribal ancestors (I know the old ways and I have rededicated them to Jehovah). Work hard, save all you can, be all you can, give away all you can, always help someone in need, be ready to assist your neighbor, give God the credit, take care of the land, use no more than you have to, and never kill an animal you do not plan to eat.
My Career choices have been multiple. As a young boy of 8 I felt called to the ministry full time. I ran from this calling for 40 years. I became a Master Machinist following in my paternal grandfather’s footsteps, a journeyman maintenance mechanic, also after my grandfather, a master diesal mechanic, a mechanical engineer, and an electrical engineer (after my own desires), and a field service engineer for two international corporations that allowed me to travel around the world several times and allowed me to live for extended periods in the Middle East and Europe. I absolutely loved this career choice but even with a 6 figure income, I was not happy or at peace.
After not finding true satisfaction in these careers I felt empty and the call on my life to enter the ministry never receded. Though I had walked away from the church for 7 years, the call of God became too loud for me to ignore. I entered the ministry in 1998 and have never loved a vocation so very much as this one. It is where I should have been all along. It has been the hardest vocation I have ever loved.
I’ve had the privilege to speak to thousands of people with a life changing message of grace, hope, mercy, unconditional love, and peace over the years.
Though my salary now places me below the poverty level in this world, I would not go back to my former vocations for any of the riches this world can afford. I have greater riches awaiting me in my Father’s kingdom and my retirement is out of this world!
Larry Steptoe’s Portion
During Larry’s adolescent years, he chose the path of Identity Foreclosure. Larry’s father was his biggest fan. Larry always took his father’s opinions very seriously. His father was a great athlete and basketball coach who also owned a very successful janitorial company. Larry strived to be just like his father. His father would tell him that he wanted Larry to stand on his shoulders and be a better man than he was. Larry took that very seriously. He has had a successful basketball career, military and coaching career just like his father. Larry has always wanted his father to be proud of him. Even though his father has been dead for 13 years, Larry knows that his father is looking down on him saying “He’s a chip off the old block”. I love you daddy.
Kiah Payne’s Portion
During much of Kiah’s life, she would have placed herself in between the identity statuses of identity foreclosure and identity diffusion. Before her grandfather passed away—who was more of a father to her—she regularly attended church, participated in bible studies, and lived life according to God’s word. She had good grades in school, and thought she knew what she wanted to do with her life—become a doctor. However, as time progressed, and as she had to deal with the loss of her grandfather who lost the battle to cancer, she transitioned to a strange place of in-between foreclosure and diffusion. She continued her religious life because she felt as though that is what her mother was making her do, but she was also starting to think that freedom was the richer fruit in the tree. Eventually, Kiah completely stopped going to church and discontinued her practices and began to think that she knew what was best for her. She began to act delinquent and most of it was because she felt somewhere in the middle of everything—nothing seemed to be easy for her.
After a few years of counseling to deal with a variety of situations that made Kiah feel “lost”, after allowing Jehovah in her heart once again, and after fixing the damages she caused within her family, she is much more self aware and believes to truly know what she wants in life. Although her bi-polar disorder causes her to sometimes act on emotions, she still believes that she can soon place herself in the category of identity achievement. She believes that, although she has a disorder, she is not any less “normal”—it is simply that her brain was configured slightly differently than everyone else’s. She has found, through years of walking away from Jehovah, and through years of identity crisis, she now knows exactly what she wants to do with her life. Working a part-time job at PetSmart keeps her busy while she awaits her English degree. Once she graduates college, she plans to join the Peace Corps, until she ultimately ends up in a career as a High School English teacher. Kiah has finally found and understood that there is no feeling greater than the love one can have for herself and for Jehovah. Although family opinions are important and should be weighed as an option, essentially you and Jehovah are the ones you live with for the rest of your life. Thus, creating happiness for those two is what is truly important.
Kristin Sisson’s Portion
I, Kristin Sisson, see myself as being in identity moratorium. I am in transition from this stage and moving into identity achievement. I am confused in many different areas of my life and while I definitely hold an opinion I’m not solid. I wish to see myself as a Christian individual but do not seem to view things the way that other Christians do. I am not against homosexuality and am fairly certain that this identity is one that a person is born with. In other words they can’t help being this way. I think there are a lot of evils out there that trump homosexuality and cohabiting. I feel this way about a lot of issues and am torn between what I read in the bible and what I experience in day to day life. As for a career I still feel that I I’m still exploring what “I want to do for the rest of my life”. Cognitively I still let emotions rule my decisions and actions. I’ve been a bit more objective in my thinking as the years have passed however and there are certain values I hold strong onto. For instance, I think you should get to know a person before judging them and I believe we all should contribute to making this world a better place. Hopefully I will reach achievement shortly. Until then I will continue to mature and grow.
Conclusion
Allowing each one of us to reflect on each other’s lives. We have all realized that everyone either fall’s into one or more of Marcia’s statuses. Whether we came across our current career, values or ethnicity through guidance from our parents or a decision we made ourselves; neither of us can say we do not fall under on of Marcia’s Identity Statuses.
