When children seek asylum from alleged abuse by a custodial parent, the notion that family reunification is always in the best interests of independent child migrants is undermined. In this chapter, the authors discuss the legal tensions between the Refugee Convention, the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the…

Many young refugees face significant difficulties in securing support from social services providers. This study invited 21 young refugees aged 16 to 21 to take part in focus groups and follow-up interviews about their experiences of accessing this support. The findings reveal that young refugees may deliberately conform to expectations about…

Everyday conflict (studied primarily among European American families) is viewed as an assertion of autonomy from parents that is normative during adolescence. Acculturation-based conflict (studied primarily among Asian- and Latino-heritage families) is viewed as a threat to relatedness with parents rather than the normative assertion of autonomy.…

Drawing on in-depth interview data collected on 18 high-achieving Chinese American students, the authors examine domains of acculturation-based conflicts, parent and child internal conflicts, and conflict resolution in their families. Their analyses show that well-established negative communication patterns in educational expectations, divergent…

This study examined the role of mother-daughter conflict in both mothers' and daughters' adjustment. Drawing from ecologically oriented and person-environment fit models, the authors investigated how the family context, as defined by the transition to adolescent motherhood, and the sociocultural context, as measured by mother-daughter…

Parent-adolescent conflict appears to be similar across different immigrant generations and cultural groups in frequency and implications for adjustment. However, the same level of argumentation may mask hidden conflictual feelings that are not expressed. Why an acculturation gap leads to such conflictual feelings in some adolescents and not…

Adolescents may seek to understand family conflict by seeking out confidants. However, little is known about whom adolescents seek, whether and how such support helps youth, and the factors that predict which sources are sought. This chapter offers a conceptual model of guided cognitive reframing that emphasizes the behavioral, cognitive, and…

This chapter begins with a discussion of the unique experience of adolescents and emerging adults who grew up with globalization in China and how it has affected their sense of self. We then discuss the effects of globalization on identity development in general, with a special focus on the sociohistorical context of China. We also review and…

In this chapter, we review identity development in German youth as well as the impact of German cultural history on difficulties in developing a sense of national identity. Current socioeconomic and political contexts, such as instability of labor markets and prolonged transitions to work and partnership, are likely to affect identity development.…

The chapter describes empirical evidence about identity development in Swedish adolescents and emerging adults and highlights cultural and contextual influences that may be specific to coming of age in Sweden. Broad trends in identity options are evident in the lives of many youth living in Sweden. Although research on identity and diversity is in…

This chapter discusses specifics of identity formation in Italian adolescents and emerging adults. We review consistent evidence illustrating that, in Italy, a progressive deferral of transition to adulthood strongly impacts youth identity development by stimulating identity exploration and postponement of identity commitments. We also consider…

This chapter explores characteristics of identity formation among Japanese adolescents and young adults living in a cultural context where individualism has been increasingly emphasized even while maintaining collectivism. We argue that, to develop a sense of identity in Japanese culture, adolescents and young adults carefully consider others'…

In this chapter, I argue that Dialogical Self Theory (DST) represents a compelling answer to how to conceptualize the psychology of the self in today's world, when people increasingly are aware of more than one way to think, feel, and relate to others. DST envisions a self of plural voices. The chapters in this volume show intriguing applications…

This chapter discusses the specific strengths of Dialogical Self Theory for the exploration and explanation of the phenomenon of "society of the mind" as it is expressed in various intricate, culturally specific discourse strategies among Indians. By focusing on a recent social movement to demonstrate the particularity of cultural processes,…

This chapter builds on Dialogical Self Theory to investigate the identity development of adolescents growing up in multicultural societies. Their cultural identity is not only compounded by the rapid cultural changes associated with globalization, but also by the paradoxical revival of cultural traditions which the large-scale compression of "time…