Turning points in the transition to adulthood

Loading...

View/Download File

Fischer_umn_0130E_13232.pdf (2.53 MB)

Persistent link to this item

https://hdl.handle.net/11299/142300

Statistics

View Statistics

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Title

Turning points in the transition to adulthood

Authors

Fischer, Laura L.

Published Date

2012-10

Publisher

Type

Thesis or Dissertation

Abstract

The concept of turning point is an important notion in studies of the Life Course. In the black and white world of the life story, turning points appear in living color; they flash in memory, meaningful in bold relief. Turning points stand out as times when we find ourselves plunging through the looking glass to the place where nothing is as it was before; to the place where Strauss suggested, "I am not the same person as I was, as I used to be" (Strauss 1959:93). Since the time of Strauss turning points have been conceptualized in a number of ways. Yet, little is known about how young people in transition to adulthood express and experience turning points. To investigate subjective experiences of turning points, 80 narrative interviews randomly sampled from the MacArthur Foundation Qualitative Study on the Transition to Adulthood. These interviews have been gathered from five locations in the United States and include a number of questions salient to the transition to adulthood. Subjective expressions of change are analyzed in terms of a classical composite defintion of turning points. Findings are suggestive indicating that turning point experiences contain elements of the classical definition and appear prominent particularly in the domain of immigration. An ideal type turning point is suggested as a tool for future studies.

Keywords

Life course

Self and identity

Turning points

Description

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. October 2012. Major: Sociology. Advisor: Jeylan T. Mortimer. 1 computer file (PDF); iv, 298 pages, appendices p. 261-298.

Related to

Replaces

License

Collections

Dissertations

Series/Report Number

Funding information

Isbn identifier

Doi identifier

Previously Published Citation

Suggested citation

Fischer, Laura L.. (2012). Turning points in the transition to adulthood. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/142300.

Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.