Identity formation and social maladaptation in foster adolescents

The literature on identity formation in individuals from socially devalued racial and ethnic groups in the United States is summarized. Implications are discussed for a particular segment of at-risk adolescents--those in foster care residential group homes--who have received little published attention. The majority, in large urban centers, are African-American or Latino. These young people bear a disproportionate burden of such societal problems as unintended pregnancy and childbearing, academic underachievement and early educational discontinuation, substance abuse, and, ultimately, homelessness and more individually and socially costly forms of dependency (criminal justice, welfare, or mental health systems). It is postulated that their social maladaptation is reflective of identity disturbances created by the negative images of African-Americans and Latinos perpetuated by the dominant society and unfiltered by optimal parental racial socialization.