Lewis, Feylyn Mercedies (2018). Who am I?: an exploration of identity development of young adult carers in the United Kingdom and United States. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.
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Lewis18PhD.pdf
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Abstract
Young adult carers are those individuals aged 18-25 who provide unpaid care, support, and assistance to an ill or disabled family member. While it is understood that young adult carers play an important role in supporting their families, little is known about the effect providing care during youth and young adulthood may have onto a young person’s development of identity. Therefore, this doctoral research project sought to understand the potential impact that caring responsibilities may have upon the development of identity for young adult carers living in the United Kingdom and United States. This comparative research utilized 55 qualitative semi-structured interviews from young adult carers in the United Kingdom (27) and United States (28). A thematic analysis was used to highlight themes connected to identity development.
One major contribution of this work includes a multidisciplinary approach to its theoretical underpinnings, by drawing from developmental psychology, sociology, and sociolinguistic perspectives to better understand the identity development of young adults with caring responsibilities.
Secondly, this work revealed the ways young adults with caring responsibilities opt to engage the socially constructed discourse on young caring through the complex use of language (and specifically, labels and codes). In all, this research study sets the stage for future work on the implications of the social construction of identities in low and advanced young carer awareness country contexts and the meanings it may have on the actual lived experience of young adults with caring responsibilities.
| Type of Work: | Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.) | |||||||||
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| Award Type: | Doctorates > Ph.D. | |||||||||
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| Licence: | All rights reserved | |||||||||
| College/Faculty: | Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Social Sciences | |||||||||
| School or Department: | School of Social Policy | |||||||||
| Funders: | None/not applicable | |||||||||
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman | |||||||||
| URI: | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/8899 |
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