dc.contributor.advisor | Alexander, Malcolm | |
dc.contributor.author | Chamberlain, Daniel Luke | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-01-23T02:21:53Z | |
dc.date.available | 2018-01-23T02:21:53Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.25904/1912/790 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365721 | |
dc.description.abstract | Defining adulthood in contemporary Australian society has become an increasingly difficult task over the past few decades, particularly since the new millennium. This thesis argues that young people in contemporary Australia form their own definition of what it means to be an adult, using individualised measures of success which reflect the social, cultural and economic conditions of young people. The thesis uses the concept of emerging adulthood which posits the existence of an extended period of identity formation after the age of 18. The thesis argues that the characterizations of emerging adults are better able to frame the structural, social and cultural shifts in conceptions of adulthood that have occurred in the last 40 years, than the frameworks from the sociology of youth and the transitions theory. The thesis uses the ‘social generation’ framework to position young people within contemporary Australian society, and incorporates ‘emerging adulthood’ as a thick description of the conditions that shape the period of life during the late teens and early to mid twenties. 21 respondents were interviewed for this project, using a novel research method that mixed qualitative and social network techniques. The interviews focused on three aspects of emerging adulthood: the ways in which the respondents used their time, the managing of their personal communities, and their conceptions of adulthood, including their self-identification of adult status. The thesis found that the respondents’ work and study obligations constrained the ways in which they could spend their time, particularly when the activity would have required a substantial investment of time. | |
dc.language | English | |
dc.publisher | Griffith University | |
dc.publisher.place | Brisbane | |
dc.rights.copyright | The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. | |
dc.subject.keywords | Emerging adulthood | |
dc.subject.keywords | Transitions theory | |
dc.subject.keywords | Adulthood | |
dc.subject.keywords | Social generation framework | |
dc.title | Emerging Adulthood and Reflexive Modernity: Defining an Adult Identity in Early 21st Century Australia | |
dc.type | Griffith thesis | |
gro.faculty | Arts, Education and Law | |
gro.rights.copyright | The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. | |
gro.hasfulltext | Full Text | |
dc.contributor.otheradvisor | Woodward, Ian | |
dc.rights.accessRights | Public | |
gro.identifier.gurtID | gu1442981059625 | |
gro.source.ADTshelfno | ADT0 | |
gro.source.GURTshelfno | GURT | |
gro.thesis.degreelevel | Thesis (PhD Doctorate) | |
gro.thesis.degreeprogram | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | |
gro.department | School of Humanities | |
gro.griffith.author | Chamberlain, Daniel Luke | |