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The term adolescence is derived from the Latin term for “growing up”. It is a period of transition in which children become adults. There are biological changes: a growth spurt, a change in bodily proportions, and the attachment of sexual maturity. (Gleitman, Fridlund, Reisburg, 2004, 540) Adolescence refers to the individual’s psychological experiences during this period of life. The sequence of physical changes during adolescence are predictable, although the age at which each change occurs varies from person to person. (Kaplan, 2000, 505)

G. Stanley Hall (1904), one of the first psychologists to describe adolescence, the tension between biological maturity and social dependence created a period of “storm and stress.” (Myers, 2005, 115)

Traditionally, adolescence has been considered a period of great emotional stress. This notion goes back to the romantic movement of the early nineteenth century, when majors writers wrote influential works that featured youths in desperate conflict with a cynical, adult world that drove them to despair, suicide, or violent rebellion. (Gleitman, Fridlund, Reisburg, 2004, 542)

Who am I?
Where do I belong?
Where am I going?
These three questions typify the adolescent’s search for a personal identity. (Ruittenbeck, 1964; in Kaplan, 2000, 513) Adolescents wonder, “Who am I as an individual? What so I want to do with my life? What values should I live by? What do I believe in?” Erikson called this quest the adolescent’s “search for identity.” (Myers, 2005, 119) Adolescence is the fifth stage in Erikson’s eight ages of man. According to Erikson ‘teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and the integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are.’ (Myers, 2005, 120)

The primary question adolescents ask themselves is, “Who am I?” and to answer it, they strike a succession of postures, in part...