James Marcia Identity Status

James Marcia

Developmental Psychologist

Nicole Eckert, Danielle Danker, Ben Nass

Background~

Canadian Expanded on the Psychosocial Theory

work of Erikson Emeritus Professor of Psychology at

Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada

The Statuses~

1. Identity Foreclosure-2. Identity Diffusion-3. Identity Moratorium-4. Identity Achievement-

These are not sequential, but there is crisis and commitment to consider

The Critics say….

Marcia is criticized similarly to Erikson because an individual can be in any status at any given time.

Marcia has tried to blunt criticism by saying that one may belong to any status, but it does not necessarily mean that one cannot move from status to status.

How does this help teachers?

We could anticipate a possible changes in a child if they have experienced a crisis

We could be more understanding and tolerant if we knew a child’s past crisis’

We can be more influential in forming a child’s identity

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Marcia