Philippine E-Journals

Rediscovering the Adolescent: A Consensual Qualitative Research

Clarissa F. Delariarte

 

Abstract:

The adolescent faces physical and psychological changes like self doubt aggravated by cyber bullying and social media syndrome (Weiten, 2008). Considered to be unstable, they have been labeled as “kids lost in cyberspace”(Farber, 2008). It is a difficult stage and if parents are not available, teachers and significant others need to be the adolescent’s champion to “model strength of character to walk away from temptations” (Pierson, 2013). Using Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2005) the researcher investigated personal discoveries of 48 adolescents through journal writing. Two open-ended questions related to answering nineteen journal prompts and focus group discussions served to collect data. To foster multiple perspectives on themes and cross analysis of responses, three judges sat down to analyze the data. Personal discoveries include: Understanding and Accepting One’s Self, Finding Courage, Understanding and Accepting Others, Forgiving and Letting Go and Expressing One’s Self. Analysis of data leads to a rediscovery of the adolescent.