The development of a sense of identity in deaf adolescents in mainstream schools

This study posed the question, ‘What awareness and ideas do adolescents (age 13 to 16) with severe and profound hearing loss, attending mainstream schools, have about their developing deaf identity?’ Semi-structured interviews with 11 pupils were videotaped and transcribed. All the pupils were educated for the majority of their time with hearing peers, with exposure to Signed Supported English (SSE) at school, but all their parents were hearing. The interview transcripts were analysed using Grounded Theory methodology, which produced a local theory about the development of deaf identity for this specific group. The codes were grouped into broad categories: facts about deafness; facts about adolescence; feelings and thoughts about deafness; perspective on inclusion; perspective on disability; family issues; friendships; school issues. The emergent core variable in this study of deaf identity was group alignment. The analysis proposed that ease or difficulties with communication, together with the pupils’ previous experiences of friendship and current preferences, combine in influencing their choices regarding group alignment. The pupils identified themselves within one of three groups: deaf aligned, hearing aligned or the ‘bridge between two worlds’.