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dc.contributor.advisorAlexander, Malcolm
dc.contributor.authorChamberlain, Daniel Luke
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-23T02:21:53Z
dc.date.available2018-01-23T02:21:53Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.identifier.doi10.25904/1912/790
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/365721
dc.description.abstractDefining 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.languageEnglish
dc.publisherGriffith University
dc.publisher.placeBrisbane
dc.rights.copyrightThe author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
dc.subject.keywordsEmerging adulthood
dc.subject.keywordsTransitions theory
dc.subject.keywordsAdulthood
dc.subject.keywordsSocial generation framework
dc.titleEmerging Adulthood and Reflexive Modernity: Defining an Adult Identity in Early 21st Century Australia
dc.typeGriffith thesis
gro.facultyArts, Education and Law
gro.rights.copyrightThe author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
dc.contributor.otheradvisorWoodward, Ian
dc.rights.accessRightsPublic
gro.identifier.gurtIDgu1442981059625
gro.source.ADTshelfnoADT0
gro.source.GURTshelfnoGURT
gro.thesis.degreelevelThesis (PhD Doctorate)
gro.thesis.degreeprogramDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
gro.departmentSchool of Humanities
gro.griffith.authorChamberlain, Daniel Luke


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