An Adolescent Theory of Peace: A Study of Adolescents' Conceptualization of Peace
Loading...
Authors
Jakob, Denise R.
Issue Date
2002
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to discover and understand how adolescents conceptualize peace and how their understanding of the meaning of peace manifests in their inner and outer lives. This study considered adolescence an ideal time to foster a concept of peace because it is the only time in human development of such cognitive fluidity combined with the psycho-social developmental phenomenon of identity formation, development of one's worldview, and fidelity to something greater than oneself. Utilizing a grounded theory qualitative research approach to access their subjective experience of peace, 28 ethnically diverse adolescent males and females aged 14-19 years from an American Midwestern suburban high school participated individually in an open-ended interview to shape their development toward peace and motivated them to act on peace.