Adolescents who live in foster care institutions identity experience: biographical narrative interpretative analysis

Nowadays identity is defined as rooted in emotion, emerging in relationship and developing as dynamic, self-organizing system. And identity formation is a intrapsychic changes during adolescence: separation individuation process, experience integration and establishment of ego continuity. It is necessary to use new methods for identity evaluation in order to understand it’s development in relational context. Qualitative research: biographical narrative interpretative analysis, was made to understand identity formation in adolescence who live in foster care. Method: six, 15-16 years old teenagers (3 girls, 3 boys) participated in research. Biographical narrative interpretative method was used to collect and interpret data, additional methods: document analysis and traumatic events questionnaire. Results: data analysis revealed three types of identity experience: identity experience based on inner conflict: fight as way to survive; identity experience based on idealization and devaluation: fantasy– the way which helps to deal with reality and identity experience based on fragmentation: isolated subjectivity. It is hypothesized that different types of told life stories are connected with different dynamic of identity experience in adolescence. It is confirmed importance of close and long lasting relationship in a process of coping with traumatic experience