Melrose C1,2, Thielking M1
1Swinburne University, 2Uniting Victoria Tasmania
Biography:
Christina Melrose is a current psychology PhD candidate at Swinburne University, and the Manager of Therapeutic Services at Uniting Victoria and Tasmania. Her professional and research interests include posttraumatic growth, identity, belonging, and mind-body approaches to healing trauma, particularly amongst vulnerable children and youth in out of home care.
The formation social bonds – to belong – is a primal human need. Belonging provides us with a sense of safety, in addition to helping us to understand who we are. In turn, our identity shapes our values, perceptions, and behaviours.
To understand the experience of engaging in maladaptive behaviours such as criminal activities, life-story interviews with 15 youths serving a custodial sentence were examined using a developmental phenomenography. The study aimed to understand the role that belonging and identity plays in the experience of engaging in these behaviours, as perceived by the young people.
Exploration of the data revealed that the need to belong, associated identities ascribed to these social groups, and related concepts emerged as key themes in the young people’s experience of engaging in maladaptive behaviours. Conversely, cultivating meaningful pro-social bonds and healthy identities were identified by the young people as key strategies to prevent poor adolescent outcomes.