Psychology

The cultural identity crisis is a complicated issue, taking into account that it involves two intricate and dynamic notions, namely, culture and identity. The latter can be explained as a structure founded on the acknowledgement of the same and known religious beliefs, language, political ideologies, and cultural beliefs among many other attributes within a group or groups of people (Mustafa, 2006, p. 1). The cultural identity can therefore be defined as one shared culture by a group of people with a distinct content, which is based upon the same origin or similar experience in the process of growing up. This means that the identity is more natural, constant and sustainable (Mustafa, 2006, p.1). However, on the other hand he still describes the identity as a continuous process which never ends, though it has an origin.

Further studies by Mustafa reveal that the identity is a procedure of becoming and it has been affected by the modernity, technological changes, globalization and other changes (2006, p.1). He continues to argue that the identity is not determined biologically, as it is the result of the social cultural and social historical interaction. When viewed in the social aspect, identity is a source of meaning and experience for people. As stated earlier, this is a dynamic and complicated field therefore, I chose to discuss only young people in relation to the cultural identity crisis. Moreover, I shall describe how these crises affect the youth and the way these effects are to be seen later in life. In addition to this, I will also consider various ways of preventing these crises.

Background information
In his attempt to define young adulthood, Erickson (1994) describes this as a stage where a person has developed his identity fully. At this point, one is always ready to interact with the rest of the society so as to form lasting relationships. Erickson labels it as a stage of intimacy versus isolation. The trouble of cultural identity crisis crops up when an individual tries to fit in a society which has its well defined norms and values. Young people belong to the social group that has its own identity and its own culture. They usually have their own way of doing things. Their dressing styles, fashion, manner of talking, music, among other things are different from the rest of the society. However the whole society views the youth culture as a social problem. Therefore, everyone including the policy makers comes up with ways and means of opposing them and this gives rise to crises. Further studies reveal that the youth are always in a process of creating their own identity and, since the community does not offer them much help, they turn to the media where they borrow some rules to follow (Ornstein, n.d.).

Williams (2003, p. 96) made an attempt to study how and why these crises arise. He described young people as a highly innovative group. However, the society is always reluctant to accept the new ideas. This can be seen clearly in the area of fashion. The youth have their dressing styles which keep on changing. Failure of the society to accept these changes gives rise to more crises. He notes with a lot of concern that young people belong to either middle or lower class in the economic ladder and their attempts to climb the social ladder give rise to yet more crisis. Moreover, they face opposition from those who occupy the higher positions. In addition, he strongly suggests that the greatest source of conflicts arises as a result of youth culture and youth subcultures.

The youth cultures and subcultures have both negative and positive effects. Positively, they provide the unity among the young people and, on the other hand, lead to the formation of a group of people labeled to be deviant. This leads to alienation as there is actually, a poor or no link at all between these young people and the other members of the society. William further observes that young people who suffer from identity crisis are those who are not able to withstand the cultural changes and those who fail to develop a strong social identity (2003, p.103).

The way the cultural identity crisis affects young people
The cultural identity crisis affects young people in many diverse ways. As discussed earlier, these crises have led to the alienation of the young people. They end up feeling as if they are not part of the society. They therefore rebel against their parents and the society at large. To seek the lost attention, these young people turn to drugs, sexual immorality and other crimes. It has been recorded that in London youth crimes increased by fifth in one year (Bentham, 2008). This shows how young people are continuously rebelling from societal norms and values. Once found guilty of these crimes, they are imprisoned and therefore they fail to achieve their life objectives in education and also in their careers.

Young people tend to be fond of imitating others. They therefore incline to bad habits like drug abuse. Those who suffer from the identity crisis are mostly affected as they tend to imitate their peers or they just find themselves in the vice in the process of looking for the identity. Drug abuse causes health as well as social problems. Furthermore, it leads to crimes, sexual immorality and in severe cases it can even cause death due to the addiction, if no intervention is taken. All this is the result of the cultural identity crisis caused mostly by the failure to address the problems facing the young adults. As Williams (2003) records, young people are not given enough chances in the job market to exploit their potential fully in the economic class they therefore occupy the middle or the lower level. This leads to more frustrations hence the reason why they turn to drug abuse.

The cultural identity crisis has a great role to play in the marginalization of the young people economically. They are usually not given a chance to develop themselves economically. Williams argues that this is associated with an in increase in violence and also social deviance (2003, p.102). In most of the riots and demonstrations that takes place, young people happen to be the main key players. This causes insurmountable losses not to mention that this can also lead to the premature deaths. Since these consequences are so severe, preventive measures ought to be taken so as to make sure that young people are well integrated in the social systems.

In a family set up where young people are experiencing identity crisis, a lot of problems are observed. It is more evident in families where both parents have busy careers. Due to this, children are not properly socialized and integrated into the society as parents are the key socializing agents. Onstein (n.d.) in his study states that such children turn to the media where they learn their values and norms. These values may not be accepted by their parents and also by the society. Poor relationships in home, school and even in the church set up affect young people negatively and this denies them a chance to develop fully.  

Effects of the cultural identity crisis on the young people and intervention measures
The failure of a young person to be integrated fully into the society will always have an effects later in life. Williams (2003) brings out this clearly when he notes that failure to give young people a chance in the labor market will always affect their economic status later in life. This can be attributed to the fact that they lacked a chance to develop fully during their formative years. Failure to acquire social norms at early stages of life poses more crises in adulthood and old age. A person who resorts to the drug and substance abuse at an early age will continue doing this at an older age and adulthood if no intervention is taken. Consequently, such a person will not be in a position to be a good parent for their children and they may also suffer from the same.

The intervention measures can always be taken on time to curb these crises. The provision of proper education and skills early in life may help the young people to develop their full potential as they grow up and significantly reduce the various gaps between them and the adults (Williams, 2003, p.103). He further argues that socialization agents should change their approach in socialization so as to incorporate the needs of young adults. Some of the innovation of the young adults should be incorporated in the society. This helps to reduce isolation and also reduces the gaps between the two groups.

Conclusion
It would definitely be an impartial conclusion to say that not sufficient research has been done in this area. However, the problem arises because those who usually study this stage of life are usually those who have already passed it. Ornstein (n.d) argues that it is always difficult for them to understand young people since they do not belong to the group, bearing in mind that this is a complicated stage of life. In addition, he says that researchers view the influence of fashion and media as irrelevant factors. Despite the fact that a lot of studies have been done in all the stages of life, few exists in young adulthood. This is a crucial period between the youth and adulthood.

The lack of a more comprehensive study by relevant people on young adulthood can be well linked to the ever increasing cultural identity crisis. To curb this, it would be of much help if further research is conducted on young adulthood. Moreover, young adults themselves should undertake this research as they will be in a position to understand young adults better as colleagues. This will therefore expose the potential of the young people to the rest of the society and most probably treat them as they should-with understanding and respect (Ornstein nd).

It would be of much help if a research were conducted on which are the most effective interventions of cultural identity crisis among the young adults. This would be an appropriate question, because as long as various changes are taking place in the social structure, crisis will always be there and therefore looking for interventions will be beneficial.