Family Roles in Identity Development

Please ensure that your own response to the DBR for Week 2 prompt is between 500 and 750 words.

Family is thought to be absolutely crucial to individuals in terms of their identity development across the lifespan. For the purposes of this class, which is focused on identity development, family is defined as the typically first group of people that serve as an environmental resource to individuals to help them produce, and express, a self-image. Family members do not need to be blood-related, but rather, can be anyone available to the infant or young child to observe, communicate with, and/or learn from to form an initial concept of who they are, and to develop, demonstrate, and organize this concept further throughout the lifespan. Non-blood-related individuals in groups who aid in these processes are also called Communities. Family and community, as concepts, can overlap, depending on the developmentalists and contexts one studies.
This DBR for Week 2 prompt is designed to help you think about some of the ways that families transmit images, ideas, values, and behaviors that impact individuals’ initial and further identity development. For your DBR for Week 2, please read Merrill and Fivush’s article, “Intergenerational Narratives and Identity across Development.”
Once you have read this article, please answer the following assigned set of questions:

What three theoretical approaches do the authors use in the article to examine the roles of family in an individual’s identity development? What importance do each of these three approaches assert family plays in identity development? Please summarize.
Briefly provide two detailed examples of the ways in which (intergenerational) narratives in families contribute to identity development for children or youth.
Is it always children or youth whose identities are shaped by family narratives? If so, explain why, with an example from the article. If not, explain why, with an example from the article.
Finally, in what ways might family narratives help create family identities? Provide one example from the article or from your own life.

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