(no subject)
"Identity versus role confusion. At puberty, childhood ends and the responsibilies of adulthood loom just ahead. The critical problem at this stage is to find one's identity. In Erik Erikson's view, identity is achieved by integrating a number of roles- student, sister, brother, friend, and so on- into a coherent pattern that gives the young person a sense of inner continuity or identity. Faliure to forge an identity leads to role confusion and despair."