Transition to adulthood among Brazilian disadvantaged youth: A longitudinal case study

MATTOS, E. and CHAVES, A.M Graduate Program in Psychology, Universidade Federal da Bahia

Summary The present paper reports on partial results of a longitudinal qualitative study that investigates the experiences of transition to adulthood from the perspective of disadvantaged youth living in a large city in the Northeast of Brazil. Research on transitions to adulthood among Brazilian youth is scarce. This study seeks to identify and describe critical moments in the transition process and to analyze how they shape youth trajectories. Interrelationships among different life dimensions (i.e. work, family and education) are emphasized. Participants were 10 youths who joined a social program during adolescence, aged 17-18 years old at the beginning of the study and 20-21 in a 2-year follow up in-depth interview. Results discuss how critical moments help shape different life trajectories and how young people position themselves and negotiate their identities as well as present and future goals, in a scenario were adversities prevail. Introduction Transition to adulthood is considered a critical developmental passage for a significant number of Brazilian adolescents who enter the labor force to help support themselves and their families before the age of 18. Research on the transition to adulthood is essential to understand how young people become able to produce and reproduce social and cultural life (Nurmi, 2004), and also to explore how they construct and negotiate their identities in the process (Zittoun, 2007). To date, however, research on transitions to adulthood among Brazilian youth has been scarce. Several authors indicate that developmental transitions are becoming less linear and predictable, and suggest that their study should take a more dynamic perspective on the processes using qualitative methods (Valsiner, 2007; Young et al, 2007; 2008; Zittoun, 2007). Studies on transition to adulthood usually focus on the outcomes of youth transitions (instead of on the transition processes), use quantitative models, and neglect young peoples perceptions and meanings about their experiences. The present study adopts a systemic approach to transitions. The idea is to emphasize the processes that are at play while youth experience transitions, focusing on their own perspectives about these experiences (Zittoun, 2007; Handerson et al, 2007). A key aspect to be considered by

this study is the concept of self-configurations (Hermans, 2001; Branco & Madureira, 2008). The self is conceived of as a complex system of relations in a process of continuous change and movement towards the future. As the person moves along the life course, his/her selfconfiguration is constantly moving and altering its patterns of stability (Valsiner, 2007). The inter-relations between person and context, or with the person and the culture in which he/she is immersed, are mutually constitutive. As the person moves into a different context, and establishes new sets of relationships, self and context are mutually re-configured and re-defined (Branco & Madureira, 2008). The process involves an active construction of meanings. Cultural meanings shape peoples perceptions and values associated with becoming an adult in a certain context and historical time. Simultaneously, the self is configured in negotiation with canalized values and meanings emphasized by a specific social milieu. Brazilian context for youth transitions is characterized by a low quality educational system and fragmented youth policies. An excluding labor market, with high youth unemployment and underemployment rates also contributes to a scenario of scarce opportunities and social inequity. Relevant cultural meanings for becoming an adult in Brazil are autonomy and responsibility. They act as major values that youth should internalize to become productive adults in our society. Methods With the theoretical framework outlined above, the present research used a longitudinal case study design to investigate the process of transition to adulthood among adolescents who participated in a social program, identifying critical moments emerging in the process of transition, as well as exploring the ways young people cope with these moments, and the meanings they construct about themselves and their world over time. Study participants were ten youths (5 males and 5 females), living in poor communities of a large city in Brazil, with ages ranging from 15 and 21 years old. They were followed in two rounds of in-depth interviews: the 1st round with 18 years old, and the 2nd round with 21 years old. Results Partial results will be discussed focusing two cases: George and Jane. In the process of transition to adulthood several changes were observed in self configurations of both youth. The main difference is in the pattern of transition. While Georges transition process is characterized by selforientation, early autonomy, and increased responsibility, Janes process is characterized by shared decision-making, joint-actions, (with family members and work mentor), and trial-and-error responsibility.

As George entered the world of work, a critical moment emerged when he faced the new work environment and tied to adapt to it. He felt as an extra element there and tried a strategy of initiative and personal effort to conquer the recognition of his work colleagues. From an initial selfconfiguration around submission or dependence to norms set by other people in his environment, he began to find a place for himself and to negotiate new challenges, developing new abilities, and adapting to the team that was already working there. In the process of facing these challenges, a new meaning is constructed around the self, a new position emerges in the landscape of Georges self-system: I-as-Apprentice. With effort and initiative, George positions himself as a responsible apprentice, and this new position will restructure his view about himself and the future. About this critical moment George reports: My greatest challenge was to find my place there [at work], because the team was already made. I had to go after what I wanted, [...] and take the initiative. In the beginning, they never gave me work to do, I just had to wait and watch the others doing their jobs. And then, I thought I need to do something. I am not going to be just looking. I am going to ask. I am going to demand [work to do]... They thought that I wasnt going to succeed, they didnt trust me. But I started to run after work to do. And I won their trust. I got it. [...] This experience made me grow professionally and personally. As time passes and George feels more confident about being an apprentice, and felt more recognized by others in his workplace, he develops a new meaning for himself: I-as-Professional. This new emerging meaning is related to future aspirations and helps George guide his actions towards the achievement of present and future goals. He feels he gained control over his life and can chart his own pathway towards the future. As he describes: That was really a defining moment in my professional career. They trusted me! They gave me a lot of responsibility. It shows that I conquered their trust. I feel I have evolved. I came from something primary to some place advanced. I think my life will take off now [...] I passed an exam to work in the public sector and I am studying at a Vocational School. [...] I started to see me as a professional, I can chart my own course now. Janes transition process, however, shows marked differences from Georges. Hers is a shared pathway, oriented by joint decision making, in which choices are made interdependently with other significant adults (family members and work mentors). Her autonomy emerges much later

in her development, and trial-and-error attempts characterize her capacity to assume responsibilities. In the beginning, when she entered the work environment, Jane faced a critical moment as she felt discriminated by her co-workers. She thought that being an apprentice was not a valued position. And she didnt trust her capacity to take on her job responsibilities. As Jane says: I think that people [co-workers] made a distinction because I was an apprentice. They didnt treat me as a real. When someone from outside asked who I was, they said that I was young apprentice. They didnt consider me an employee. As for me, I thought I wouldnt be able to do all the work I had to do. After some time, however, Jane searched for adult support in an older employee, who acted as her mentor. Every time she had a problem or a doubt, or when she was afraid of making a mistake, Jane went to talk to Elena, who encouraged her and gave her support to overcome her challenges. Jane felt that Elena trusted her more then she trusted herself. Therefore, it was through her relationship with Elena that Jane was able to build a new self-position: I-as-Responsible-Worker. And, with time, she started to take on more responsibilities, and began to trust her new abilities. However, her responsibilities at work did not transfer to her home. As she reveals in her own report: I started to have money problems. I had a lot of debt in my credit card. I tried to manage the money in my family, because everything I earned I gave to support my family. My father was sick and couldnt work. Then, I had to manage everything, and this was a lot of work! And the debts started to pop-up. Therefore, another critical moment happened to Jane when she tried to manage money in her home. Although she was the main contributor to family expenses, she could not assume these tasks as satisfactorily as her mother used to do. There was a contradiction between her Self-asResponsible-Worker and her Self-as-Dependent-Daughter, and Jane felt anxious because she could not integrate both positions. Later on, however, after some changes happen in her family context, she starts to develop strategies to overcome these challenges. She says: Now my father is working again and I am learning to manage my money. I paid off all my debts. I cut up all my credit cards. [...] I think I can take charge of my own life now. I am not only responsible for myself, I am responsible for others too. Therefore, it is possible to see that, with time, Jane develops a new selfconfiguration that integrates her self-positions at work and in the home,

with the support of significant adults. She learned how to manage family money and feels more responsible both for herself and for others. Final Considerations In transition to adulthood, critical moments (times of intensification of uncertainties) act as catalysts of change and serve to trigger new selfconfigurations. Through Janes and Georges cases, we may see that new meanings emerge from processes related to confrontations with changes in the context and to ambivalent feelings towards self and others (Valsiner, 2007). During their transition process, Jane and George developed new coping strategies, leading to re-configuration and re-positioning. There was an intensification of negotiation and search for integration in both cases, but the processes were experienced and resolved differently by Jane and George. In Georges case, new self-positions assumed an organizing role early on, and integration was achieved with the dominance of new positions over old ones (Branco & Madureira, 2008). In Janes case, however, integration was achieved by joint-processes, in interrelation with other significant adults. Her new self-positions emerged after some time of shared decision making at work and in the family environment. Therefore, learning to become a productive adult involves confrontation and negotiation. It also implies taking responsibility for ones own self and for others, and designing ones own path. The process is characterized by integration and empowerment of certain self-configurations that achieve dynamic stability. References Branco, A. & Madureira, A.F. (2008). Dialogical Self in action: The mergence of Self-Positions among complex and cultural dimensions. Estudios de Psicologa, 29(3), 319-332. Henderson, S., Holland, J. McGrellis, S. Sharpe, S. & Thomson, R. (2007) Inventing adulthoods: A biographical approach to youth transitions. London: Sage. Hermans, H. J. M. (2001). The dialogical self: toward a theory of personal and cultural positioning. Cultural Psychology, 7(3), 243-281. Nurmi, J-E. (2004) Socialization and self-development Chanelling, selection, adjustment, and reflection. In Lerner, R. M., & Steinberg, L. (Orgs). Handbook of Adolescent Development, 2nd Edition, Ny: Wyley (pp. 85-124). Valsiner, J. (2007). Culture in Minds and Societies. New Delhi: Sage. Young, R.A., Mrshall, S.K., Domene, J. F, Graham, M., Logan, C., Templeton, L., Zeidman-Zeit, A., & Valach, L., (2007). Meaningful actions and motivated projects in the transition to adulthood: two case

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