essay identity and belonging

Identity, Belonging, and Culture Essay

Belonging is a necessary process for youth during the period of meaning and making because it helps them to craft their own identity carefully. A person’s economic and socio-cultural resources help him to create new cultural possibilities (Butcher and Thomas, 2006). For example, Australian migrants prefer to create their own culture combining their parental heritage and the host country’s cultural aspects. They can not avoid belonging because they are scared of alienation and exclusion. Young people usually adopt subcultural features because it helps them to reflect on the conscious construction of identity. Popular cultures consist of subcultures with distinct styles, interests, shared rituals, and meanings (Matthews, 2015). When a young person belongs to a subculture, he resists mainstream society by style and behavior. Punks who converted objects into group adornment opposed the commercialization of their culture using the “do it yourself” slogan. Such opposition facilitates the personal identification of the youth.

Hybrid identities result from the fusion of identities in a globalized world with many ideas and beliefs. My identity follows the same pattern because every young person is exposed to inconsistencies and contradictions in ideology. The theory that cultures are “heterogeneous, open and evolving systems” is reliable as it allows people to choose groups and identities according to their tastes (Matthews, 2015, p. 83). Therefore, youth like me can demonstrate an interest in various topics regardless of their life experience or inherited social status. For example, I prefer sharing, adapting, and fusing spaces and lifestyles but not sticking to one cultural expression or social belonging. Thus, the theory that individualism affects hybridized identity is valid.

Reference List

Butcher, M. & Thomas, M. (2006) ‘Ingenious: Emerging Hybrid Youth Cultures in WesternSydney’ in Nilan, P. & Feixa, C. (eds). Global Youth?: Hybrid Identities, Plural Worlds . Routledge: New York (Chapter 3), pp. 53-71.

Matthews, A. (2016) ‘Youth’ in Huppatz, K., Hawkins, M. and Matthews, A. (eds.) Identity and Belonging . London: Palgrave (Chapter 6), pp. 71-85.

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Belonging: A Review of Conceptual Issues, an Integrative Framework, and Directions for Future Research

Kelly-ann allen.

1 Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton Australia.

2 Centre for Positive Psychology, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.

Margaret L. Kern

Christopher s. rozek.

3 Department of Education, Washington University in St. Louis, U.S.A.

Dennis McInereney

4 Department of Special Education and Counselling, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

George M. Slavich

5 Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

A sense of belonging—the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences—is a fundamental human need that predicts numerous mental, physical, social, economic, and behavioural outcomes. However, varying perspectives on how belonging should be conceptualised, assessed, and cultivated has hampered much-needed progress on this timely and important topic. To address these critical issues, we conducted a narrative review that summarizes existing perspectives on belonging, describes a new integrative framework for understanding and studying belonging, and identifies several key avenues for future research and practice.

We searched relevant databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo, and ClinicalTrials.gov, for articles describing belonging, instruments for assessing belonging, and interventions for increasing belonging.

By identifying the core components of belonging, we introduce a new integrative framework for understanding, assessing, and cultivating belonging that focuses on four interrelated components: competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions.

Conclusion:

This integrative framework enhances our understanding of the basic nature and features of belonging, provides a foundation for future interdisciplinary research on belonging and belongingness, and highlights how a robust sense of belonging may be cultivated to improve human health and resilience for individuals and communities worldwide.

Although the importance of social relationships, cultural identity, and — especially for indigenous people — place have long been apparent in research across multiple disciplines (e.g., Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ; Cacioppo, & Hawkley, 2003 ; Carter et al., 2017; Maslow, 1954 ; Rouchy, 2002 ; Vaillant, 2012), the year 2020 — with massive bushfires in Australia and elsewhere destroying ancient lands, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S., amongst other events — brought the importance of belonging to the forefront of public attention. Belonging can be defined as a subjective feeling that one is an integral part of their surrounding systems, including family, friends, school, work environments, communities, cultural groups, and physical places ( Hagerty et al., 1992 ). Most people have a deep need to feel a sense of belonging, characterized as a positive but often fluid and ephemeral connection with other people, places, or experiences ( Allen, 2020a ).

There is general agreement that belonging is a fundamental human need that all people seek to satisfy ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ; Deci & Ryan 2000 ; Leary & Kelly, 2009 ; Maslow 1954 ). However, there is less agreement about the belonging construct itself, how belonging should be measured, and what people can do to satisfy the need for belonging. These issues arise in part because the belonging literature is broad and theoretically diverse, with authors approaching the topic from many different perspectives, with little integration across these perspectives. Therefore, there is a clear need to bring together disparate perspectives to understand better belonging as a construct, how it can be assessed, and how it can be developed. This narrative review describes several central issues in belonging research, bringing together disparate perspectives on belonging and harnessing the strengths of the multitude of perspectives. We also present an integrative framework on belonging and consider implications of this framework for future research and practice.

A need to belong — to connect deeply with other people and secure places, to align with one’s cultural and subcultural identities, and to feel like one is a part of the systems around them — appears to be buried deep inside our biology, all the way down to the human genome ( Slavich & Cole, 2013 ). Physical safety and well-being are intimately linked with the quality of human relationships and the characteristics of the surrounding social world (Hahn, 2017), and connection with other people and places is crucial for survival ( Boyd & Richerson, 2009 ). Indeed, for Indigenous people, “others” and “place” are synonymous and are inextricably entwined, where country provides a deep sense of belonging and identity as Aboriginal people ( Harrison & McLean, 2017 ).

The so-called “need to belong” has been observed at both the neural and peripheral biological levels (e.g., Blackhart et al., 2007 ; Kross et al., 2007 ; Slavich et al., 2014 ; Slavich, Way et al., 2010 ), as well as behaviourally and socially (e.g., Brewer, 2007 ; Filstad et al., 2019 ). Disparate research lines suggest that the principal design of the human brain and immune system is to keep the body biologically and physically safe by motivating people to avoid social threats and seek out social safety, connection, and belonging ( Slavich, 2020 ). Indeed, a sense of belonging may be just as important as food, shelter, and physical safety for promoting health and survival in the long run ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ; Maslow, 1954 ).

A Dynamic, Emergent Construct

Although belonging occurs as a subjective feeling, it exists within a dynamic social milieu. Biological needs complement, accentuate, and interact with social structures, norms, contexts, and experiences ( Slavich, 2020 ). Social, cultural, environmental, and geographical structures, broadly defined, provide an orientation for the self to determine who and what is acceptable, the nature of right and wrong, and a sense of belonging or alienation ( Allen, 2020 ). The sense of self emerges from one’s predominant social and environmental contexts, reinforcing and challenging the subjective sense of belonging. Belonging is facilitated and hindered by people, things, and experiences of the social milieu, which dynamically interact with the individual’s character, experiences, culture, identity, and perceptions. That is, belonging exists “because of and in connection with the systems in which we reside” ( Kern et al., 2020 , p. 709).

Despite its importance, many people struggle to feel a sense of belonging. Socially, a significant portion of people suffer from social isolation, loneliness, and a lack of connection to others ( Anderson & Thayer, 2018 ). For example, in 2017, in Australia, half of the adults reported lacking companionship at least some of the time, and one in four adults could be classified as being lonely ( Australian Psychological Society, 2018 ). Similar findings have been reported in the United States, where 63% of men and 58% of women reported feeling lonely ( Cigna, 2018 ). Social disconnection has become a concerning trend across many developed cultures for several reasons, including social mobility, shifts in technology, broken family and community structures, and the pace of modern life ( Baumeister & Robson, 2021 ). The COVID-19 pandemic magnified and accelerated the struggles that already existed. Early studies pointed to increases in loneliness and mental illness, especially among vulnerable populations, that is caused at least in part from extended periods of isolation, social distancing, and rising distrust of others ( Ahmed et al., 2020 ; Allen, 2020b ; Dsouza et al., 2020 ; Gruber et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020 ).

Struggles to belong are particularly evident in minorities and other groups that have been historically excluded from mainstream culture. For instance, even as many Indigenous people experience a sense of well-being when they connect with and participate in their traditional culture (e.g., Colquhoun & Dockery, 2012 ; Dockery 2010 ; O’Leary, 2020 ), many Aboriginal people also experience ongoing grief from country dispossession ( Williamson et al., 2020 ). As bushfires ravaged Australian lands early in 2020, the grief of the fires was significantly worse than nonIndigenous people, as they not only watched the fires decimate their land, but also their memories, sacred places, and the hearts of who they are as a people ( Williamson et al., 2020 ). Several months later, the killing of George Floyd, a Black man in the U.S., initiated protests worldwide that provided a sense of meaning in connecting with others against racism ( Ramsden, 2020 ), bringing to light the systemic exclusions that Black people have long experienced in the U.S. and beyond ( Corbould, 2020 ; Yulianto, 2020 ).

A Narrative Review of Belonging Research

With this background in mind, we narratively review existing studies on belonging, considering different perspectives on how belonging has been defined and operationalised, along with correlates, predictors, and outcomes associated with belonging. Although belonging is not merely the opposite of loneliness, social isolation, or feelings of disconnection, across the literature, low and high belonging have been placed on a continuum conceptually ( Allen & Kern, 2017 , 2019 ; for a review of belonging and loneliness, see Lim et al., 2021 ). Furthermore, because of the shared similarities and close relationships between the constructs, we include studies that have considered the presence of belonging, low levels of belonging, and disconnection indicators.

Defining Belonging

The constructs of “belonginess” and “belonging” lack conceptual clarity and consistency across studies, hence limiting advances in this research field. Belonging has been defined and operationalised in several ways (e.g., Goodenow, 1993 ; Hagerty & Patusky, 1995 ; Malone et al., 2012 ; Nichols & Webster, 2013 ), which has enabled investigators to test whether interventions increase a sense of belonging over days, weeks, or months. However, definitions have often explicitly focused on social belonging, thus missing other essential aspects, such as connection to place and culture, and the dynamic interactions with the social milieu, as described above.

Because of the increased importance of belonging during adolescence, much of the research on belonging has involved students in school settings ( Abdollahi et al., 2020 ; Arslan et al., 2020 ; Yeager et al., 2018 ). Definitions have tended to include school-based experiences, relationships with peers and teachers, and students’ emotional connection with or feelings toward their school ( Allen et al., 2016 , 2018 ; Allen & Bowles, 2012 ; O’Brien & Bowles, 2013 ; Slaten et al., 2016 ). Goodenow and Grady’s (1993) definition remains the most common definition: “the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment” (p. 80).

A distinction can be made between trait (i.e., belonging as a core psychological need) and state (i.e., situation-specific senses of belonging) belongingness. Studies suggest that state belonging is influenced by various daily life events and stressors ( Ma, 2003 ; Sedgwick & Rougeau, 2010 ; Walton & Cohen, 2011 ). Depending on the variability of situations and experiences that one encounters, along with one’s perceptions of those situations and experiences, a person’s subjective sense of belonging can change as frequently as several times a day in much the same way that happiness and other emotions change over time ( Trampe et al., 2015 ). However, people can also have relatively stable experiences of belonging. For example, some individuals demonstrate generally high or low levels of belonging with relatively little variability across time and different situations. In contrast, for others, a sense of belonging is more variable, depending on one’s awareness of and perceptions of environmental context and social cues (Schall et al., 2013). For instance, whereas one individual might perceive a smile from a coworker as a sign that they are part of a community, another might suspect a contrived behaviour and see it as a sign of exclusion. Indeed, research suggests that the effects of belonging-related stressors can be more intense for those who identify with outgroups ( Walton & Brady, 2017 ). Such outgroups include those from racial minorities, those who identify as sexually or gender diverse, or individuals with behaviours, attributes, or abilities that depart from the social norm, such as those that stem from mental health issues ( Gardner et al., 2019 ; Harrist & Bradley, 2002 ; Rainey et al., 2018 ; Spencer et al., 2016 ; Steger & Kashdan, 2009 ).

It appears that multiple processes must converge for a stable, trait-like sense of belonging to emerge and support well-being and other positive outcomes ( Cacioppo et al., 2015 ; Erzen & Çikrikci, 2018 ; Mellor et al., 2008 ; Rico-Uribe et al., 2018 ; Walton & Cohen, 2011 ). For instance, a successful singer is motivated to sing and has skills and capacity to sing well, confidence, opportunities to sing, and support by others. It would seem that trait belongingness is more crucial for mental health and well-being; that is, a more stable and lasting sense of belonging as opposed to a state of belonging (i.e., a temporary feeling of belonging based on thoughts, feelings, and behaviours ( Clark et al., 2003 ).

Assessing Belonging

Several different instruments have been used to assess belonging, but there is no consensus, gold-standard measure. The differentiation between state and trait belongingness has made defining and measuring belonging even more complicated. Most belonging measures are unidimensional, subjective, and static, representing a snapshot of a person’s perception at the administration time. Instruments such as Walton’s measures of belonging and belonging uncertainty have been used in many studies within education and social psychology ( Pyne, Rozek, & Borman, 2018 ; Walton & Cohen, 2007 ). These measures assess belonging from a more state-based sense of belonging, capturing transitory feelings of belonging or lack of situation-specific belonging ( Walton, 2014 ; Walton & Brady, 2017 ). Other measures, such as the UCLA Loneliness Scale, potentially assess a more stable, trait-like sense of belonging, pointing to belonging as a core psychological need ( Mahar et al., 2014 ). It could be argued that commonly used belonging measures are more accurate in assessing state-like experiences due to their propensity to assess belonging in a single snapshot of time ( Cruwys et al., 2014 ; Feser, 2020; Leary et al., 2013 ; Martin, 2007 ). This is also the case with more applied belonging studies, such as those focused on school belonging ( Allen et al., 2018 ; Arslan & Allen, 2020 ).

Given that no single measure of belonging exists, research has examined numerous belonging surveys to identify commonalities that can be applied across a variety of disciplines. Mahar et al. (2014) reviewed several instruments for assessing belongingness and found that belonging was often measured as related to the performance indicators of specific types of service organisations. For example, the sense of belonging to a church congregation may depend on the amount of support one receives from that congregation while belonging to a university is dependent not just on social connections but also on how well a student performs academically. Therefore, every social science discipline, unfortunately, has its own measure and scale of belonging.

However, there are some commonalities in all of the studies reviewed by Maher et al. (2014). First, a sense of belonging is based on an individual’s perception of their connection to a chosen group or place. Most instruments Maher and colleagues reviewed contained at least one question that referenced the feeling of belonging, whether to a large group such as a country or race or a small group such as a church or school. Second, the sense of belonging is dependent on opportunities for interaction with others. Each survey reviewed referenced this variable differently, using words such as “relationships,” “making friends,” “spending time,” and “bonding.” Whatever term is used, the instruments all appear to be measuring the same thing — namely, the opportunities a person has to belong to a desired group.

A few scales specifically ask respondents to evaluate their motivations to connect and build relationships with a desired group. Motivations appear to be an area of importance that is often ignored in previous survey tools. The importance of this element will be further explored below.

In addition, several measures consider the ability to belong. Specifically, does the individual have the social skills and abilities it takes to belong to a group? The reviewed instruments might include a question such as “I find it easy to make friends” ( Mahar et al., 2014 , p. 23); however, the questions do not specifically address whether an individual is unable to belong to the desired group because of their behaviours or attitudes.

Correlates, Predictors, and Outcomes Associated with Belonging

Regardless of how belonging has been defined and measured, the fundamental importance of belonging combined with elevated levels of social disconnection evident in modern society has led to several fruitful research and application areas. A sense of belonging has been used as a dependent, independent, and correlated variable in a wide range of studies demonstrating the salience of this construct across various contexts (e.g., Allen et al., 2018 ; Freeman et al., 2007 ). For instance, Mahar et al. (2014) reviewed how a sense of belonging was measured and actioned as a service outcome among persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, concluding that belonging is an important outcome in this domain. Other studies have found a positive association between students’ belonging needs and psychological well-being ( Karaman & Tarim, 2018 ; Kitchen et al., 2015 ). Undergraduates’ involvement in courses that use technology was related to higher belonging levels ( Long, 2016 ). Additionally, a sense of belonging positively relates to persistence in course study ( Akiva et al., 2013 ; Hausmann et al., 2007 ; Moallem, 2013 ). Across these and other studies, greater belonging is consistently associated with more positive psychosocial outcomes.

Other studies have considered the implications for belonging interventions that target (a) characteristics of the individual including personality, social skills, and cognitions (e.g., Durlak et al., 2011 ; Frydenberg et al., 2004 ; Walton & Cohen, 2011 ); (b) their social relationships (e.g., Aron et al., 1997 ; Kanter et al., 2018 ); or (c) the environment that individuals inhabit, such as the physical attributes of the workplace, sense of space, and opportunities to connect (e.g., Gustafson, 2009 ; Jaitli & Hua, 2013 ; Trawalter et al., 2020 ). Most intervention studies have treated belonging as a secondary outcome rather than directly targeting belonging ( Allen et al., 2020 ), although there are some exceptions. For instance, in a brief social belonging intervention in a college setting for Black Americans, positive effects appeared to be long-lasting (i.e., from 7 to 11 years; Brady et al., 2020 ). A brief social belonging intervention among minority students had positive impacts on academic and health outcomes among minority students by encouraging students to understand that the feeling of not belonging is normal and temporary ( Walton & Cohen, 2011 ). Additionally, Borman et al. (2019) found that improvement in students’ sense of belonging partially mediated the effects of a similar intervention on academic achievement and disciplinary problems in secondary school.

Other studies have examined the benefits that arise from a sense of belonging. Studies have identified numerous positive effects of having a healthy sense of belonging, including more positive social relationships, academic achievement, occupational success, and better physical and mental health (e.g., Allen et al., 2018 , Goodenow & Grady, 1993 , Hagerty et al., 1992 ). A lack of belonging, in turn, has been linked to an increased risk for mental and physical health problems ( Cacioppo et al., 2015 ; Hari, 2019 ). Indeed, a meta-analysis of 70 studies concluded that the health risks of social isolation are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day and is twice as harmful as obesity ( Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015 ). Likewise, studies have found that deficits in social relationships across the lifespan are associated with depression, poor sleep quality, rapid cognitive decline, cardiovascular difficulties, and reduced immunity ( Hawkley & Capitanio, 2015 ). More specifically, the adverse effects of not belonging or being rejected include increased risk for mental illness, antisocial behaviour, lowered immune functioning, physical illness, and early mortality (e.g., Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2003 ; Cacioppo et al., 2011 ; Choenarom et al., 2005 ; Cornwell & Waite, 2009 ; Holt-Lunstad, 2018 ; Leary, 1990 ; Slavich, O’Donovan, et al., 2010 ).

An Integrative Framework for Belonging

From this review, the take-home message is that belonging is a central construct in human health, behaviour, and experience. However, studies on this topic have used inconsistent terminology, definitions, and measures. At times, belonging has been treated as a predictor, outcome, correlate, and covariate. Therefore, it is unclear whether the lack of a sense of belonging is equivalent to negative constructs such as loneliness, disconnection, and isolation, or if these are separate dimensions. These inconsistencies arise, in part, from the multiple theoretical and empirical perspectives present in the belonging literature. Building on these different perspectives and insights, we propose an integrative framework to conceptualise belonging measures and inform interventions. In brief, we suggest that belonging is a dynamic feeling and experience that emerges from four interrelated components that arise from and are supported by the systems in which individuals reside. As illustrated in Figure 1 , the four components are:

• competencies for belonging (skills and abilities);
• opportunities to belong (enablers, removal/ reduction of barriers);
• motivations to belong (inner drive); and
• perceptions of belonging (cognitions, attributions, and feedback mechanisms — positive or negative experiences when connecting).

As a dynamic social system, these four components dynamically reinforce and influence one another over time, as a person moves through different social, environmental, and temporal contexts and experiences. Together they dynamically interact with, are supported or hindered by, and impact relevant social milieus. The narrative of how these components interconnect results in consistently high belonging levels, which support positive life outcomes.

An integrative framework for understanding, assessing, and fostering belonging. Four interrelated components (i.e., Competencies, Opportunities, Motivations, and Perceptions) dynamically interact and influence one another, shifting, evolving, and adapting as an individual traverses temporal, social, and environmental contexts and experiences.

Competencies for Belonging

The first component we suggest belonging emerges from is competencies : having a set of (both subjective and objective) skills and abilities needed to connect and experience belonging. Skills enable individuals to relate with others, identify with their cultural background, develop a sense of identity, and connect to place and country. Competencies enable people to ensure that their behaviour is consistent with group social norms, align with cultural values, and treat the place and land with respect. The development of social competencies is central to social and emotional learning approaches (e.g., CASEL, 2018 ), and plays a critical role in supporting positive youth development ( Durlak et al., 2011 ; Kern et al., 2017). In turn, social competencies deficits can limit relationship quality, social relations, and social positions ( Frostad & Pijl, 2007 ).

With some exceptions, most people can develop skills to improve their ability to connect with people, things, and places. Social skills include being aware of oneself and others, emotion and behaviour regulation, verbal and nonverbal communication, acknowledgement and alignment with social norms, and active listening ( Blackhart et al., 2011 ). Cultural skills include understanding one’s heritage, mindful acknowledgement of place, and alignment with relevant values. Social, emotional, and cultural competencies complement and reinforce one another, and contribute to and are reinforced by feeling a sense of belonging. The ability to regulate emotions, for example, may reduce the likelihood of social rejection or ostracisation from others ( Harrist & Bradley, 2002 ). Competencies can also help individuals cope effectively with feelings of not belonging when they arise ( Frydenberg et al., 2009 ). Pointing to the social nature of competencies, the display and use of skills may be socially reinforced through acceptance and inclusion, while feeling a sense of belonging may also assist in using socially appropriate skills ( Blackhart et al., 2011 ).

Opportunities to Belong

The second component we suggest belonging emerges from is opportunities : the availability of groups, people, places, times, and spaces that enable belonging to occur. The ability to connect with others is useless if opportunities to connect are lacking. For instance, studies with people from rural or isolated areas, first- and second-generation migrants, and refugees have found that these groups have more difficulty managing psychological well-being, physical health, and transitions ( Correa-Velez et al., 2010 ; Keyes & Kane, 2004 ). They might have social competencies, but their circumstances limit opportunities. For example, Correa-Velez et al. (2010) studied nearly 100 adolescent refugees who had been in Melbourne, Australia, for three years or less. Even with deliberate steps taken to help the students integrate into their new schools, including language development, they overwhelmingly reported feelings of discrimination and bullying. They subsequently reported a lower sense of well-being. Although these students had the skills to connect with their schoolmates, they were not given opportunities to connect. Similarly, legacies of racism, dispossession, and assimilation have continued to exclude Aboriginal people from connecting with and managing their homelands ( Williamson et al., 2020 ).

The need for opportunities became poignantly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, as social distancing was enforced in countries around the world, and many human interactions went virtual. Active membership of extracurricular groups, schools, universities, workplaces, church groups, families, friendship groups, and participation in hobbies provide opportunities for human connections. For instance, school attendance is a prerequisite for students to feel a sense of belonging with their school ( Akar-Vural et al., 2013 ; Bowles & Scull, 2018). In the absence of physical opportunities for belonging, technologies such as social media and online gaming may help meet this need, especially for youth ( Allen et al., 2014 ; Davis, 2012 ) and for those who are introverted, shy, or who suffer from social anxiety ( Amichai-Hamburger et al., 2002 ; Moore & McElroy, 2012 ; Ryan et al., 2017 ; Seabrook et al., 2016 ; Seidman, 2013 ). However, it remains uncertain the extent to which technologically mediated approaches can fully compensate for face-to-face relationships.

The Black Lives Matter movement particularly points to opportunities for those that are often excluded by building social capital that strengthens connections, allows activists to share their messages, and illuminates the inequities existing within and across cultures. In Putnam’s (2000) work on social capital identified social networks as fundamental principles for creating opportunity. Putnam described the concepts of bridging and bonding social capital, in which the former was later referred to as inclusive belonging, whereas the latter pertains to exclusive belonging ( Putnam, 2000 ; Roffey, 2013 ). Bridging social capital is inclusive because it creates broader social networks and a higher degree of social reciprocity between members ( Putnam, 2000 ). Whereas bonding social capital highlights the connections found within a community of people sharing similar characteristics or backgrounds, including interests, attitudes, and demographics ( Claridge, 2018 ). This might be observed with close friends and family members ( Claridge, 2018 ) or other homogenous groups such as a church-based women’s reading group or an over-50s mens’ basketball team ( Putnam 2000 ). In contrast, bridging social capital may emerge from the connection people build to share their resources ( Murray et al., 2020 ). Most members are interconnected through this type of social capital, which transcends class, race, religion, and sociodemographic characteristics. Bridging social capital occurs when there is an opportunity for any person to interact with others (Putnam, 2010). This might look like a sporting event, a gathering of concerned about a common concern like climate change or racism, or even attendance at a public concert. In the same way, inclusive belonging represents mutual benefits for all parties involved. In contrast, exclusive belonging presents the idea that a selected group will benefit from membership, particularly those who are members of the group ( Roffey, 2013 ). Communities and organisations can employ inclusive belonging principles that may improve the experience of belonging for people, particularly vulnerable to rejection and prone to social isolation and loneliness ( Allen et al., 2019 ; Roffey, 2013 ; Roffey et al., 2019 ).

There are numerous ways for individuals, groups, and communities to create opportunities for belonging, and some of these opportunities can even be motivated by a sense of not belonging ( Leary & Allen, 2011 ; London et al., 2007 ). For example, those who have been disenfranchised, have suffered abuse or trauma, or have been ostracised or rejected may look for alternative sources for belonging ( Gerber & Wheeler, 2009 ; Hagerty et al., 2002 ). This search for belonging outside, or in opposition to, established norms provides one explanation for the rise of radicalisation and extremism ( Leary et al., 2006 ; Lyons-Padilla et al., 2015 ), participation in gangs and organised crime ( Voisin et al., 2014 ), and school violence ( Leary et al., 2003 ). It can also be an incentive for more socially acceptable pathways to belonging, such as through joining support groups, or bonding together with diverse others to fight against racism ( Ramsden, 2020 ). At individual, institutional, and societal levels, there is a need to create opportunities and reduce barriers to allow positive connection to occur so that people are less likely to seek out problematic contexts for belonging.

Motivations to Belong

The third component we suggest belonging emerges from is motivations : a need or desire to connect with others. Belonging motivation refers to the fundamental need for people to be accepted, belong, and seek social interactions and connections ( Leary & Kelly, 2009 ). Socially, a person who is motivated to belong is someone who enjoys positive interactions with others, seeks out interpersonal connections, has positive experiences of long-term relationships, dislikes negative social experiences, and resists the loss of attachments ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ). In social situations, people who are motivated to belong will actively seek similarities and things in common with others. This characteristic may not always be accounted for by personality type or attributes ( Leary & Kelly, 2009 ). Similarly, a person might be motivated to connect with a place, their culture or ethnic background, or other belonging contributors.

The degree to which people are motivated to belong varies ( Leary & Kelly, 2009 ). Weak motivation to belong can be associated with psychological dysfunction ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ), and weak motivation may, alongside other socially mediated criteria, become a predictor of psychological pathology ( Leary & Kelly, 2009 ). A lack of motivation may arise in part from repeated rejection and thwarting of one’s basic psychological needs of relatedness, competence, and autonomy (Deci & Ryan, 2001), resulting in a learned helplessness response ( Nelson et al., 2019 ) that manifests as a reduced motivation to belong. Nevertheless, Baumeister and Leary (1995) suggest that people can still be driven and motivated to connect with others, even under the most traumatic circumstances.

Hence, individual differences and context play central roles in our understanding of belonging motivation. The range of possible motivators for belonging are vast and will reflect diverse sociocultural and economic environments such as indigenous-non-indigenous, collectivist-individualist, urban-rural, developed-developing. It is essential that any examination of the nature and function of motivators of belonging acknowledges this diversity and includes it in any conceptualisation of this construct.

Perceptions of Belonging

The fourth component we suggest belonging emerges from is perceptions : a person’s subjective feelings and cognitions concerning their experiences. A person may have skills related to connecting, opportunities to belong, and be motivated, yet still report great dissatisfaction. Either consciously or subconsciously, most human beings evaluate whether they belong or fit in with those around them ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ; Walton & Brady, 2017 ).

Perceptions about one’s experiences, self-confidence, and desire for connection can be informed by past experiences ( Coie, 2004 ). For example, a person with a history of rejection or ostracization might question their belonging or seek to belong through other means ( London et al., 2007 ). This seeking could involve groups that are considered to be antisocial, such as cults, street or criminal gangs or group memberships characterised by radicalised social, political or religious ideas ( Hunter, 1998 ). This might involve returning to one’s home or place of origin or trying to find one’s place within a world that has systemically erased their value. A rejected student may engage in maladaptive behaviours in a classroom to seek approval from peers ( Flowerday & Shaughnessy, 2005 ). Indeed, in one study, indigenous children reported underperforming at school so that they would not be ostracised from their group ( McInerney, 1989 ). In other words, maintaining belonging with their indigenous peers was more salient than doing well at school; doing well at school was a white thing ( Herbert et al., 2014 ; McInerney, 1989 ). It was also apparent that perceptions of themselves as successful students (i.e., a feeling of belongingness at school) were weak for many Indigenous students but for “adaptive” reasons. Repeated social rejection experiences can create the perception (by both the individual and others who witness the repeated social rejection) that the person is not socially acceptable ( Walton & Cohen, 2007 ). Negative perceptions of the self or others, stereotypes, and attribution errors can also undermine motivation ( Mello et al., 2012 ; Walton & Wilson, 2018 ; Yeager & Walton, 2011 ). These subjective experiences and perceptions of those experiences thus act as feedback mechanisms that increase or decrease one’s desire to connect with others.

Just as the need to belong can shape emotions and cognitions ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ; Lambert et al., 2013 ), cognitions and emotions also impact a person’s capacities, opportunities, and motivations for belonging. To address these links and help enhance belonging, a variety of psychosocial interventions grounded in cognitive therapy aim to (a) reframe cognitions concerning negative social interactions and experiences, (b) normalise feelings of not belonging that everyone experiences from time to time, and (c) alter the extent to which the events that caused the feeling are internal vs. external to the individual (e.g., Walton & Cohen, 2007 ). These interventions have been shown to alter not just cognitions about other people and the world ( Borman et al., 2019 ; Butler et al., 2006 ) but also basic biological processes involved in the immune system that are known to affect human health and behaviour ( Shields et al., 2020 ).

Implications for Research and Practice

As we have alluded to, belonging research has been the subject of decades of development and broad multidisciplinary input and insights. As a result of this history, though, perspectives on this topic are highly diverse, as are methods for assessing this construct. Strategies for enhancing a sense of belonging exist, but identifying effective solutions depends on integrating multiple disciplinary approaches to theory, research, and practice, rather than relying on the silos of single disciplines. Arising from the framework described above, we point to six main challenges and issues related to understanding, measuring, and building belonging, highlighting areas that would benefit from additional attention and research.

First, belonging research has occurred within multiple disciplines but primarily siloed into separate domains. Understanding and support for belonging is a subject of concern in many fields, including psychology ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ), sociology ( May, 2011 ), education ( Morieson et al., 2013 ), urban education ( Riley, 2017 ), medicine ( Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2003 ), public health ( Stead et al., 2011 ), economics ( Bhalla & Lapeyre, 1997 ), design ( Schein, 2009 ; Trudeau, 2006 ; Weare, 2010 ), and political science ( Yuval-Davis, 2006 ). However, little work has integrated these different disciplines’ findings, with differing language, measures, and approaches used, yielding a fractured and inconsistent perspective on belonging. Thus, there is a need for authentic attempts to synthesise these findings fully and integrate, develop, and extend belonging research through genuinely interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches ( Choi & Pak, 2006 ). Our integrative framework provides an initial attempt at bringing these different perspectives together, but the extent to which it is sufficient and applicable within different disciplines remains to be seen.

Second, there is a need for belonging researchers to develop a more robust understanding of the existing literature. The theoretical, methodological, and conceptual gaps need to be bridged to make this literature much more widely accessible. Knowledge development in this area will lead to improved research measurement and practitioner tools, potentially based on multitheoretical, empirically driven perspectives that will, in turn, make the bridging of future theory, research, practice, and lived application easier for all stakeholders. Our framework provides an initial organising structure to map out the literature, identify gaps, and support further knowledge development in the future. Numerous theories across disciplines contribute to each of the components, and future work could identify how different theories map onto, intersect with, and inform understanding, assessment, and enhancement of belonging.

Third, there are significant gaps between research and practice in the context of belonging. One important factor contributing to this gap is the sheer breadth and complexity of belonging research. Thus, researchers in this field make conscious — and conscientious — efforts to collaborate and translate their work to and for other researchers and practitioners. We suggest that our framework provides an accessible entry point into the research for practitioners. The four components provide specific areas to focus interventions, identifying enablers and barriers of each of the components. Building belonging begins with a need to ensure that communities have a foundational understanding of the importance of belonging for psychological and physical health and that individuals can draw on and advance their competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions to increase their sense of belonging. Still, there is a need to identify specific strategies within each component that can help people develop and harness their competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions across different situations, experiences, and interactions.

Fourth, consideration needs to be given to how belonging is best measured. Existing instruments for assessing belonging primarily focus on social belonging, rather than on the broader, more inclusive construct of a sense of belonging as a whole. It is unclear whether positive and negative aspects of belonging are unidimensional or multidimensional. For instance, positive affect is not merely the absence of negative affect. Positive cognitive biases are different from low levels of negative cognitive bias, and disengagement is not necessarily the same as low engagement levels. Belonging and loneliness tend to be inversely correlated ( Mellor et al., 2008 ), but the extent to which this is true across different individuals and contexts, and depends upon the measures used, is unknown.

Existing measures also generally provide a state-like assessment of a person’s sense of belonging (i.e., at a given point in time). However, as a dynamic emergent construct, measuring and targeting singular (or even multiple) components in a fixed manner is insufficient. Studies will benefit by examining the best way to capture and track dynamic patterns and identifying (a) when and how a sense of belonging emerges from competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions; (b) the contextual factors needed to enable this emergence to occur; (c) and the feedback mechanisms that reinforce or block the emergence of belonging in a person.

Fifth, although we suggested that four components are necessary for belonging to emerge, it is unknown how much of each component is needed, whether specific sequencing amongst the components matters (i.e., one needs to come before the other) and the extent to which that depends upon the person and the context. For example, culture can intensely affect an individual’s competencies for belonging, opportunities to belong, motivations to belong, and even perceptions of belonging ( Cortina et al., 2017 ). As a dynamic, emergent construct, each likely component impacts upon and interacts with the others. Still, for some individuals or across different contexts, there might be specific sequences that are more likely to support a sense of belonging. Aligned with other psychological and sociological studies, the existing belonging literature primarily has used variable-centred approaches. Person-centred research that exists points to belonging as being a nonlinear construct, with the ability for the sense of belonging to grow, stall, disappear, or flourish within an individual over the life course ( George & Selimons, 2019 ). Longitudinal, person-centred approaches might be a useful complement to traditional study designs because they allow the opportunity to track experiences of belonging in diverse populations, identify the combination of the four components described above, and when belonging emerges, with consideration of personal, social, and environmental moderators.

Finally, multilevel research is needed to elucidate social, neural, immunologic, and behavioural processes associated with belonging. This integrative research can help researchers understand how experiences of belonging “get under the skin” affect human behaviour and health. Equally important is the need to understand the biological processes that are affected by experiences of disconnection versus belonging, which can help researchers elucidate the regulatory logic of these systems to understand better what aspects of belonging are most critical or essential for health ( Slavich, 2020 ; Slavich & Irwin, 2014 ). Such knowledge can ultimately help investigators develop more effective interventions for increasing perceptions of belonging and lead to entirely new ways of conceptualising this fundamental construct.

In conclusion, a sense of belonging is a core part of what makes one a human being ( Baumeister & Leary, 1995 ; Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Slavich, 2020 ; Vaillant, 2012). Just as harbouring a healthy sense of belonging can lead to many positive life outcomes, feeling as though one does not belong is robustly associated with a lack of meaning and purpose, increased risk for experiencing mental and physical health problems, and reduced longevity. As technology continues to develop, the pace of modern life has sped up, traditional social structures have broken down, and cultural and ethnic values have been threatened, increasing the importance of helping people establish and sustain a fundamental sense of belonging. Focusing on competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions can be a useful framework for developing strategies aimed at increasing peoples’ sense of belonging at both the individual and collective level. To fully realize this framework’s potential to aid society, much work is needed.

G.M.S. was supported by a Society in Science—Branco Weiss Fellowship, NARSAD Young Investigator Grant #23958 from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and National Institutes of Health grant K08 MH103443.

Conflicts of Interest : The authors declare no conflicts of interest with regard to this work.

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Identity And Belonging Essay

This sample of an academic paper on Identity And Belonging Essay reveals arguments and important aspects of this topic. Read this essay’s introduction, body paragraphs and the conclusion below.

‘Our identity is influenced by how others view us. ’ Our individual identity is determined by what others think of us but only in part. Our identity is also comprised of inner qualities and outer representations of self. It consists of innumerable defining characteristics that make up the whole of who we are in any given moment.

These fragments of ourselves include our sexuality, gender, and sense of belonging to a particular culture, nation, religion, family, or some other group.Our identity includes our looks, personality, beliefs and fears. Our identities are constantly growing, changing, and adapting to our everyday lives. This emphasizes the overriding link that one’s sense of belonging influences, or often dictates, individual identity. Each individual in society assigns themselves a particular role, whether it be as a mother, brother, retiree, performer, sportsman or as a part of their occupation, a doctor or lawyer.

One’s entire sense of self is consumed by pursuit of fulfilling such a role in society.Often these roles influence how others view us. How heavily do they? What does it depend on? Can it change or alter? What might you do to affect it? Which identity is influenced: public or private? Does it come from within that makes us who we are, or is it the environment and the people in it that ultimately mould our identity? These are the questions that can arise when questioning the effect of others on our identity.

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Stereotyping is one of the biggest conflicts that misrepresent who we really are.We are misunderstood sometimes as people who do not know who we really are, view us as something that we are not because of what they have heard because of attitudes toward certain roles in society, therefore affecting our identity. In the film Gattaca, the culture within the Gattaca Corporation shows clearly the human tendency to stereotype. Assessors discriminate against new applicants with undesirable genetics rather than testing each person individually to determine their capabilities. Genetics gives them a preconceived opinion of how people will perform and people are rejected or accepted accordingly.A specific example of stereotyping in the film is when the actual murderer of the mission director is excluded as a suspect because of his genetics. This would suggest that the idea of selection of people with ideal genetics and reliance on this for behaviour of people may be major a cause of stereotyping, not just a result of it. The implications that this has for managers of organisations are that they need to be aware of their stereotypes and ensure that this does not affect their decisions or cause them to discriminate unnecessarily when dealing with people.The relationships we have with others are the biggest factors that make up our identity and change who we are and how others view us. Those that surround us can affect our identity. We play different roles in the relationships we have, whether it would be with our family, our neighbours or with our friends. Relationships are grown upon similar interests and common thoughts and within each relationship, an identity grows similar to those with whom we spend our time and this is what gives us a sense of belonging.In Unpolished Gem, the strong bond between Alice and her grandmother influences Alice’s identity. She grows up with the values demonstrated by her grandmother. Identity can both be influenced by, and influence, the work we do, our education, financial and class status, the car we drive, the home we live in and the clothes we wear. Identity is also determined by perspective. Our self-image can be entirely different to the way we are seen by a colleague, partner, friend, child or parent who all have their own lens of perception through which they view us.Half of our identities today are completely based on what we see in the media. Although our names, cultures and religions are determined otherwise, mainstream media all significantly determines our dress, behaviour, hobbies and interests. What we see in magazines and on television dictate the way we run our lives. They tell us that we need a new car, a new dress or new toys because they are what is ‘”in”, what everyone is getting. The media is the cause of our heavily consumerist society, and is always telling us “what’s hot and what’s not”.We always want what is trendy and what is new, because the media tells us that we want it. This both destroys individualism, and influences our identity. The way society views social classes is also affected by the media. Previous to the Second World War, society was predominately paternal. Women were largely seen as inferior, and were chiefly bound to a domestic role. However, when the war ended, a large feminist revolution took place. The song “I am Woman” by Helen Reddy perpetuated the idea that women were just as capable as men, and should no longer be treated as second-class citizens.Feminist movements on the radio and television allowed people to see these new ideas, and change the way they viewed women. A new identity for women was created, that women were no longer bound to the home, but could have jobs and work just as men would. Thus, the media created a new identity. Identity is a big aspect of who we are as people. It is the personality that creates us as individuals. We are brought up to learn who we are and are recognised by our differences. Our identity is made up of many sources.Friends, family, peers and our own characteristics are factors of our character that make up a sense of our identity. Stereotyping is one of the biggest conflicts that misrepresent who we really are. We are misunderstood sometimes as people who don’t know who we really are, view us as something that we are not because of what they have heard. Identity is combination of how we see ourselves, what we make of ourselves and importantly, how others view us, whether rightly or wrongly. Statement of Explanation I chose to write in an expository style, employing conventions of format and style of a traditional essay.This allows me to express my ideas in a logical order while adopting a sophisticated tone. My piece is to be read by VCE students familiar with the subject matter and texts, Unpolished Gem and Gattaca. As they have familiarity with the concepts I discuss, I intend for readers to depart with a greater understanding and appreciation of the ideas in my written piece. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that there are different influences on a person’s identity. In this essay, I explored the idea that ‘Our identity is influenced by how others view us’.

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Born a Crime

Trevor noah, everything you need for every book you read..

Noah ’s existence is not only outlawed by the apartheid system; the system also fails to neatly categorize him as black or white, and so his existence as a biracial man reveals the underlying flaws in the system’s conception of race. Nevertheless, he still has to cope with apartheid dividing the world—and people continuing after apartheid to divide themselves—based on race. He is frequently forced to choose a racial group even though that he knows that inequality and oppression thrive precisely by sustaining such animosity. And yet he also recognizes his unique potential to define his own identity by bridging different groups, as well as to show those groups their common interests. Throughout the course of his memoir, Noah manages to find a sense of belonging in the world without clinging to any particular group or identity label.

Under apartheid, identity is defined according to race. But this makes little sense for Noah, who knows that his existence as a mixed-race South African proves the system’s illogical foundations. Noah argues that interracial relationships challenge the very foundation of apartheid’s racism because, quite simply, they show that people want to be together despite racial difference, not only ever because of racial similarity. This, in turn, is why interracial sex is illegal. Judging by skin color alone, Noah is classified as “ colored ,” a group that falls between black and white in terms of rights and social status. Yet, practically speaking, this makes no sense: colored people are a specific, closed community, largely in Western South Africa, descended from centuries-old mixed marriages and most closely connected to white Afrikaner culture. Even though Noah is not part of this colored community, the apartheid system would have him live, work, and make a family exclusively with other colored people just because of his skin color, which shows how divorced apartheid’s racist thinking is from the reality of how people define their identities. Luckily, Noah and his mother, Patricia , manage to escape detection, but he still repeatedly has to be hidden as a child: he cannot meet his father, Robert , or walk with his mother in public (she often pretends to be his nanny or maid). He cannot play on the streets with his cousins in Soweto , lest he be kidnapped by the government and moved to a colored settlement.

Because race is (for the most part) the dominant basis for identity in South Africa, Noah often feels forced to “pick a side” and choose part of his identity at the expense of the rest. Although he first attends an integrated Catholic school called Maryvale College, after the sixth grade his schools are always divided on the basis of race, and he is consistently unsure how to position himself—he is not particularly white, black, or colored, and he is certainly not Indian. At his first school, he grows close to the other black students and decides to leave his advanced classes to be with them. Similarly, he feels most at home in black neighborhoods (Soweto and Alexandra ) and hates the white suburbs, where everyone else lives behind a huge wall. And he particularly feels ostracized by colored kids, who bully him constantly in Eden Park and show him why “it is easier to be an insider as an outsider than to be an outsider as an insider.” However, when he briefly ends up in jail and goes to the cell under the courthouse for his bail trial, again Noah has to pick a group of inmates to hang out with based on race, and the choice is not obvious: he has been playing the part of the colored gangster but wants neither to reveal the part he is playing to the actual colored gangsters nor invoke their wrath by hanging out with the black men. So he goes and talks with the white men.

Noah’s ability to pick various sides in various situations paves the way to the solution to his sense of alienation: he learns to bridge different communities and show that belonging can depend on identities people choose and build themselves, rather than ones imposed on them by the circumstances of birth or color. The first chapter focuses on the three churches that Noah’s mother takes him to every Sunday: an integrated church, a black church, and a white church. This represents the family’s ability to create community on their own terms (rather than only on the basis of race), but also Patricia’s fearlessness in the face of racism during the last years of apartheid. Noah uses business to remain at once an insider and outsider to everyone. By reselling food from the busy cafeteria line in high school, he manages to get along with everyone without needing to truly join one racial group at the expense of the rest. And during his year selling goods on the street in Alexandra, he again uses the social distance of business transactions to build connections with a wide variety of people in the neighborhood. But, throughout his childhood, Noah’s main technique for bridging different identities is learning various South African languages, which allows him to communicate with most of the people he meets and signal that he is part of (or at least respects and understands) their group. This gets him out of potentially violent situations numerous times and makes him a marvel (and arguably the most popular kid) on the first day of sixth grade during recess.

Ultimately, because he recognizes that violent systems like apartheid thrive by making oppressed people focus on their differences rather than common interests, Noah simply refuses to define himself negatively by confining himself to one group and instead defines himself positively, by opening himself to various people, languages, and experiences. This is not only a tool for him to survive in a divided world where he does not neatly fit in any box, but also a means to heal the world by coaxing people out of their boxed-in communities and into a broader mindset of shared humanity.

Identity, Belonging, and Community ThemeTracker

Identity, Belonging, and Community Quotes in Born a Crime

The genius of apartheid was convincing people who were the overwhelming majority to turn on each other. Apart hate, is what it was. You separate people into groups and make them hate one another so you can run them all.

The triumph of democracy over apartheid is sometimes called the Bloodless Revolution. It is called that because very little white blood was spilled. Black blood ran in the streets.

As the apartheid regime fell, we knew that the black man was now going to rule. The question was, which black man?

In any society built on institutionalized racism, race-mixing doesn't merely challenge the system as unjust, it reveals the system as unsustainable and incoherent. Race-mixing proves that races can mix—and in a lot of cases, want to mix. Because a mixed person embodies that rebuke to the logic of the system, race-mixing becomes a crime worse than treason.

As a kid I understood that people were different colors, but in my head white and black and brown were like types of chocolate. Dad was the white chocolate, mom was the dark chocolate, and I was the milk chocolate. But we were all just chocolate. I didn't know any of it had anything to do with “race.” I didn't know what race was. My mother never referred to my dad as white or to me as mixed. So when the other kids in Soweto called me “white,” even though I was light brown, I just thought they had their colors mixed up, like they hadn't learned them properly. “Ah, yes, my friend. You've confused aqua with turquoise. I can see how you made that mistake. You're not the first.”

I was eleven years old, and it was like I was seeing my country for the first time. In the townships you don't see segregation, because everyone is black. In the white world, any time my mother took me to a white church, we were the only black people there, and my mom didn't separate herself from anyone. She didn't care. She'd go right up and sit with the white people. And at Maryvale, the kids were mixed up and hanging out together. Before that day, I had never seen people being together and yet not together, occupying the same space yet choosing not to associate with each other in any way. In an instant I could see, I could feel, how the boundaries were drawn. Groups moved in color patterns across the yard, up the stairs, down the hall. It was insane. I looked over at the white kids I'd met that morning. Ten minutes earlier I'd thought I was at a school where they were a majority. Now I realized how few of them there actually were compared to everyone else.

Colored people had it rough. Imagine: You've been brainwashed into believing that your blood is tainted. You've spent all your time assimilating and aspiring to whiteness. Then, just as you think you're closing in on the finish line, some fucking guy named Nelson Mandela comes along and flips the country on its head. Now the finish line is back where the starting line was, and the benchmark is black. Black is in charge. Black is beautiful. Black is powerful. For centuries colored people were told: Blacks are monkeys. Don't swing from the trees like them. Learn to walk upright like the white man. Then all of a sudden it's Planet of the Apes, and the monkeys have taken over.

As the outsider, you can retreat into a shell, be anonymous, be invisible. Or you can go the other way. You protect yourself by opening up. You don't ask to be accepted for everything you are, just the one part of yourself that you're willing to share. For me it was humor. I learned that even though I didn't belong to one group, I could be a part of any group that was laughing. I'd drop in, pass out the snacks, tell a few jokes. I'd perform for them. I'd catch a bit of their conversation, learn more about their group, and then leave. I never overstayed my welcome. I wasn't popular, but I wasn't an outcast. I was everywhere with everybody, and at the same time I was all by myself.

In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don't see the person it affects. We don't see their face. We don't see them as people. Which was the whole reason the hood was built in the first place, to keep the victims of apartheid out of sight and out of mind. Because if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable. We live in a world where we don’t see the ramifications of what we do to others, because we don't live with them. It would be a whole lot harder for an investment banker to rip off people with subprime mortgages if he actually had to live with the people he was ripping off. If we could see one another's pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — America and I — America and I: Tones of Identity and Belonging

America and I: Tones of Identity and Belonging

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Published: Aug 31, 2023

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Advanced Essay #3 : [Identity and Belonging in the Black community]

In today's society and culture, being an individual is not only essential to your identity and what you portray yourself as, but also knowing who you are and where you fit in. For many minority groups in America, fitting in can be especially difficult because even though the U.S. is a melting pot, minority cultures and languages are often swept under the rug to make room for dominant cultural ideals. Assimilation into mainstream culture can more often than not make an individual feel out of touch with their culture and community. In a fascinating way, Aza Nedhari  evaluates oppression in the American culture and complex identity for black males specifically. “The reactionary behaviors and coping mechanisms that manifest from this cultural group may appear incomprehensible to one who is not challenged with an anomalous form of self-awareness defined by a conflicting identity that forces the Black male to view himself through the lens of the dominant culture that does not perceive and does not allow him to function as equal. “ Black males in our society are held up to a certain standard that is somewhat unattainable given that it is based on white male characteristics and paradigms. It almost seems as if black males are unsupported in our cultural, societal and economic system  based off the fact that they are seen through the “lens of the dominant culture”.

In the black community, mental health is such a taboo topic that is not often talked about. In this quote by Simone Sneed, she speaks about her experience with mental illness and the emotional tension she had developed from growing up as an outsider. “Health care providers can be insensitive to the cultural experiences of African Americans. There are some health care providers who assume that…strife in black people or having a difficult time are what’s to be expected…in some cases they may normalize what may be a traumatic reaction.” From the history of slavery to today, many African Americans, particularly those who have risen on  the socio-economic and professional ladder in the face of institutionalized racism still struggle with feeling the need to always be strong, which results in unhealthy coping mechanisms and internalized feelings of hatred. Belonging in this sense can be hard given that some are so emotionally and socially isolated that they feel as though they can not trust anyone and deal with their problems alone.

With blacks being the subject of racialized discourse that has socially established us as being criminals and unprincipled people, this challenges our right to a legitimate and respectable identity. Having a positive identity can be difficult for blacks in america because of the stigmas and stereotypes that weigh so heavily on how other people see us. This can even more difficult when the media adds on to the negative connotations. Racism Review brings up the topic of the media pandering to white audiences whiling slandering the black community in the process. “When racist media, such as Fox News, use black intellectual mercenaries to pander to white audiences to denounce a cultural practice or particular behavior in African Americans in general, they are, in essence, identifying African Americans as subjects worthy to be oppressed, absolving a racialized society of all blame for their oppressed condition and the reason such behavior has become a normalized practice.” Because of the misrepresentation of the black community on such popular platforms, this only fuels the way people see blacks.

Different aspects in life affect the way people see and recognize the black community, but most of the time that is out of our control. The constant marginalization of our culture, language, hair, skin color, and more can be a burden on our spirits, but they are all important facets of the identities of black people everywhere.  In a system we were put into where we cannot prosper may inhibit us, but it will not define us and we will continue to be strong in the face of oppression.

Works Cited

Nedhari, Aza. "In Search of Manhood: The Black Male's Struggle for Identity and Power." Inquiries Journal . N.p., 11 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

Hamm, Nia. "Black Folks and Mental Health: Why Do We Suffer in Silence?" EBONY . N.p., 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

"African Americans' Social & Racial Identity Under Attack -." Racism Review. N.p., 01 Apr. 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

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Call for Papers: Collection on Concepts of Identity and Belonging

Tracing its roots to a long history of philosophical discourse, identity stands as one of the most intricate and ubiquitous concepts within the large debates of human and social sciences. It is taken for granted in everyday life and assumed to be an all-inclusive determinant of empirical and virtual entities; yet, obscure when it comes to marking out its essence as a referential determinant and delineating the shaping politics of its concretizations. The ambiguity and paradox of identity stem from the contradictory dimensions it encompasses, entailing at the same time a sense of similitude yet difference, uniqueness yet commonness, and independence yet reliance. It is both a state of being and a representation; a priori internal process of “self-verification” (Burke and colleagues 1999), and a product of “social structures” (Stryker and colleagues 1982), or as “never a priori, nor a finished product; [but] only ever the problematic process of access to an image of totality." (Bhabha 1994). 

For an individual, to be identified is to be similar to what s/he really is, in terms of biological personal traits and attributed socio-cultural and political roles, as a unique subject, and as part of a social apparatus with which aspects of identity are shared, but never fully similar. One can also be identified as not being another one, assuming that “A is an X because he is not Y” (Devreux 1975). Both self and other can be qualified as agents in the self’s process of identification, for A can be identified as oneself or as not being the other, illustrating here the multifaceted nature of identity never stabilized between the two poles of independence and reliance. The opposition of the individual and the social is abusive as it denies that personal identity is a way of existing within a social environment, assuming that there is no social representation without a subject and no subject without a social representation (Chauchat 1999). Then, a subject cannot be identified out of the circle of either appertaining or not appertaining to a group, establishing thus a certain personal identity within a social one that might fuse with another collective identity, defined through ‘reference groups’ and ‘groups of opposition’.

This collection is planned to be published with Westphalia Press. It welcomes contributions on all aspects related to the politics of identity formations. It addresses issues of literary, cultural, artistic, political, historical and economic representations of identity and its intersections. Contributions are expected to present a variety of theoretical perspectives. They should be original and should not be under consideration for any other publication- in print or digital format.

 Submissions are accepted in English and should be directed to Dr. Najah Mahmi [email protected] and Dr. Abdelhak Jebbar [email protected] by March 30, 2024. Please submit a 300 word abstract with proposed title for consideration. The subject line of your email should be titled: Abstract – Identity Book Project.

Manuscripts should be completed by June 30, 2024. They should be written in Chicago style format (17th edition), Times New Roman, 12 points. They should not exceed 9000 words, including footnotes and bibliography. 

All manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review process. They should be submitted in word format. The first page of the document should include the name and affiliation of the author(s). There should be no other reference to the author’s name in the body of the text, headings or notes.

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Frederick Douglass famously said, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men," but how do we build strong children?

Katrina Macasaet puts an early childhood education (ECE) lens on what research tells us about how children begin to form their ideas about who they are and the people around them — and how these ideas shape how they look at the world. Review milestones that infants and toddlers reach as they learn about themselves and how they belong, starting with their relationships and discoveries as babies. Hear one parent’s perspective as Lakshmi Hutchinson chats with Katrina about her experience fostering her children's sense of identity at home. Consider together how we can relate to, and build off of, family experiences like Lakshmi’s in early learning environments. Explore ways to create safe and inclusive spaces for babies and toddlers where they can learn about who they are and their growing capacities.

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Un/belonging Identities: Relating Narratives of Queer Trauma

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Keywords : Affect, Queer, Trauma, Identity, Privilege, Narrative

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Children's book explores love, belonging and identity from the eyes of a transracial adoptee

The new children’s book “ Eyes that Weave the World’s Wonders ” follows a young transracial adoptee who realizes that while her Asian eyes may not resemble her parents, they’re a priceless connection to the culture and identity of her biological family. It’s a story about love and finding the beauty in the things that might set us apart from each other.

Host Deepa Fernandes speaks with both of the book’s authors: Joanna Ho is the New York Times bestselling author of several children’s books, and Liz Kleinrock is a transracial adoptee and an anti-racist educator.

The cover of “Eyes that Weave the World’s Wonders.” (Courtesy)

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Sucheta Dasgupta | Of Delhi, Kolkata and a sense of belonging

In any narrative, place or positionality is an important element. A news report, too, has a place line next to its date. At some point or other in their writing life, every writer is, thereby, bound to become aware of, and open to, the possibilities of place.

You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place... like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again, writes Azar Nafisi, the 68-year-old Iranian-American writer of Reading Lolita in Tehran .

And though I was never one for strange feelings, I must admit, having been quite ambitious while at the same time a bit hard-headed, when I first came to Delhi in 2004 and then moved in 2008 for the long term, I was determined to form a relationship with my new city, so that in exploring it I could find out what I did not know about its culture, politics and my own past. My interest was not specific to this place even. A writer’s motivation is very often to understand themselves by making sense of their immediate environment, their world. And while my conscious purpose of coming here was to learn the ropes of my trade through my office’s proximity to the corridors of power, I did not want to close myself off to non-work-related experiences, observe their connections to the news, hopefully find a few headlines myself, and even write those stories should the time arrive.

Where are you from, though, remained a hairy question from work colleagues and neighbours. And even if I did not eat fish, young people usually don’t because it requires a certain maturity of the palate, “books, medicine and fish” was never an acceptable answer. But who cares for conversations where the answer is predictable? Do you? It was ironical because my interrogators, too, did not care to notice my absence of inferiority complex when I answered.

It did spotlight the statehood question. Did Delhi and the National Capital Region not belong equally to every Indian citizen? Who are the original inhabitants of Delhi, the Muslims of the old city, or the Rajasthanis before them? Or are they Gujjars who are still rare in the city’s corporate offices? Hypothetically speaking, beyond a (welcome) political advantage to any Opposition party if it is in power in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (because in democracy a healthy Opposition is an important requirement), is there a point to statehood?

Then I had an eye-opening conversation with another ‘authentic’ Delhiwallah. He was born and brought up in Delhi and is, unlike me, not just a five-time voter and a recently old property owner. During a ride home from work, the two of us were discussing if it was lonely to watch films unaccompanied in movie theatres and I found myself remembering to him my impression of Kolkata’s Purna Cinema. My friends having migrated to different cities, most of the films I have watched in Kolkata are on my own. Some of those halls have closed down now for many years.

Purna Cinema was one theatre my father had told me about from during his Calcutta Medical College days. I was brought up in Durgapur and born in Rourkela, Odisha.

During my seven years in Kolkata, I made sure to go to Purna at least once and watch a film. 1947 Earth was its name, and aside from it, my memory of the hall is a faint but distinct odour of urine coming from the aisles and straight-backed, bedbug-bearing wooden chairs. But it is a tangible memory, much more so than any Red Fort or Qutab Minar.

When I finished my story, I asked my colleague if he, too, like me had had a place of personal pilgrimage in this city of seven cities, starting with Indraprastha, and he answered, indeed, he didn’t, and specified that it was a point of difference between the two cities, Kolkata and Delhi, and that that was why the “Purana Qila has never been a tentpole in [his] life”.

Delhi is too large, too wide, and has existed at least for a millennium. When one goes to an old monument here, there is no sense of identification, hence no point of take-off; so that experience is not exactly transcendental. Despite its amazing history, all you get in Delhi is the here and now. So many people have come and gone from that spot that there is no imprint of footfall. Kolkata, on the other hand, is young, and small, extant for a little more than 330 years. It has folklore.

The next significant difference between Delhi and Kolkata pertains to its inhabitants. The ones who populate its offices and neighborhoods are there to build their career and family. They lead often humdrum and largely isolated lives. In Kolkata, if someone makes a joke or a smart spin-off, it travels around university circles and down generations until it eventually makes its way to every Bengali drawing room. Even young people ensconced deep inside the mufussil suburbs are not left out, much like it is the case with today’s WhatsApp forwards. Our social circles are not just concentric, they overlap. That generates more folklore.

A third difference? In Kolkata it is poor who are generous and friendly, the rich are upwardly mobile. In Delhi, the struggle is harder for the poor. Here it is vice-versa. It is the rich who are sometimes gracious. A fourth. In Kolkata, public life on buses and in the markets is urban. Delhi has rural pockets besides being surrounded by villages. Where the dress is different. So are lifestyles. The fifth difference is that in Delhi, the bureaucracy works so much better.

Yesterday, I rescued a migratory bird from under the ITO railway overbridge. It had broken its leg and lay on an unlit stretch and was sure to have been run over by a cyclist in a hurry or a biker. A young woman and I spotted it and we picked it up and reached it to the Bird Hospital at Chandni Chowk on an e-rickshaw. We did not make friends but exchanged numbers. It is a microcosm of my relationship with the capital.

If home is where the heart is, statehood for Delhi is correct, but we are not all homesteaders. Like the woman in black burqa I had spied sleeping on the brown soil in front of her modest hut behind Jama Masjid, amongst tall, white geese walking her courtyard.

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The A.C.L.U. Said a Worker Used Racist Tropes and Fired Her. But Did She?

The civil liberties group is defending itself in an unusual case that weighs what kind of language may be evidence of bias against Black people.

By Jeremy W. Peters

Kate Oh was no one’s idea of a get-along-to-go-along employee.

During her five years as a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, she was an unsparing critic of her superiors, known for sending long, blistering emails to human resources complaining about what she described as a hostile workplace.

She considered herself a whistle blower and advocate for other women in the office, drawing unflattering attention to an environment she said was rife with sexism, burdened by unmanageable workloads and stymied by a fear-based culture.

Then the tables turned, and Ms. Oh was the one slapped with an accusation of serious misconduct. The A.C.L.U. said her complaints about several superiors — all of whom were Black — used “racist stereotypes.” She was fired in May 2022.

The A.C.L.U. acknowledges that Ms. Oh, who is Korean American, never used any kind of racial slur. But the group says that her use of certain phrases and words demonstrated a pattern of willful anti-Black animus.

In one instance, according to court documents, she told a Black superior that she was “afraid” to talk with him. In another, she told a manager that their conversation was “chastising.” And in a meeting, she repeated a satirical phrase likening her bosses’ behavior to suffering “beatings.”

Did her language add up to racism? Or was she just speaking harshly about bosses who happened to be Black? That question is the subject of an unusual unfair-labor-practice case brought against the A.C.L.U. by the National Labor Relations Board, which has accused the organization of retaliating against Ms. Oh.

A trial in the case wrapped up this week in Washington, and a judge is expected to decide in the next few months whether the A.C.L.U. was justified in terminating her.

If the A.C.L.U. loses, it could be ordered to reinstate her or pay restitution.

The heart of the A.C.L.U.’s defense — arguing for an expansive definition of what constitutes racist or racially coded speech — has struck some labor and free-speech lawyers as peculiar, since the organization has traditionally protected the right to free expression, operating on the principle that it may not like what someone says, but will fight for the right to say it.

The case raises some intriguing questions about the wide swath of employee behavior and speech that labor law protects — and how the nation’s pre-eminent civil rights organization finds itself on the opposite side of that law, arguing that those protections should not apply to its former employee.

A lawyer representing the A.C.L.U., Ken Margolis, said during a legal proceeding last year that it was irrelevant whether Ms. Oh bore no racist ill will. All that mattered, he said, was that her Black colleagues were offended and injured.

“We’re not here to prove anything other than the impact of her actions was very real — that she caused harm,” Mr. Margolis said, according to a transcript of his remarks. “She caused serious harm to Black members of the A.C.L.U. community.”

Rick Bialczak, the lawyer who represents Ms. Oh through her union, responded sarcastically, saying he wanted to congratulate Mr. Margolis for making an exhaustive presentation of the A.C.L.U.'s evidence: three interactions Ms. Oh had with colleagues that were reported to human resources.

“I would note, and commend Ken, for spending 40 minutes explaining why three discreet comments over a multi-month period of time constitutes serious harm to the A.C.L.U. members, Black employees,” he said.

Yes, she had complained about Black supervisors, Mr. Bialczak acknowledged. But her direct boss and that boss’s boss were Black.

“Those were her supervisors,” he said. “If she has complaints about her supervision, who is she supposed to complain about?”

Ms. Oh declined to comment for this article, citing the ongoing case.

The A.C.L.U. has a history of representing groups that liberals revile. This week, it argued in the Supreme Court on behalf of the National Rifle Association in a First Amendment case.

But to critics of the A.C.L.U., Ms. Oh’s case is a sign of how far the group has strayed from its core mission — defending free speech — and has instead aligned itself with a progressive politics that is intensely focused on identity.

“Much of our work today,” as it explains on its website, “is focused on equality for people of color, women, gay and transgender people, prisoners, immigrants, and people with disabilities.”

And since the beginning of the Trump administration, the organization has taken up partisan causes it might have avoided in the past, like running an advertisement to support Stacey Abrams’s 2018 campaign for governor of Georgia.

“They radically expanded and raised so much more money — hundreds of millions of dollars — from leftist donors who were desperate to push back on the scary excesses of the Trump administration,” said Lara Bazelon, a law professor at the University of San Francisco who has been critical of the A.C.L.U. “And they hired people with a lot of extremely strong views about race and workplace rules. And in the process, they themselves veered into a place of excess.”

“I scour the record for any evidence that this Asian woman is a racist,” Ms. Bazelon added, “and I don’t find any.”

The beginning of the end for Ms. Oh, who worked in the A.C.L.U.’s political advocacy department, started in late February 2022, according to court papers and interviews with lawyers and others familiar with the case.

The A.C.L.U. was hosting a virtual organization-wide meeting under heavy circumstances. The national political director, who was Black, had suddenly departed following multiple complaints about his abrasive treatment of subordinates. Ms. Oh, who was one of the employees who had complained, spoke up during the meeting to declare herself skeptical that conditions would actually improve.

“Why shouldn’t we simply expect that ‘the beatings will continue until morale improves,’” she said in a Zoom group chat, invoking a well-known phrase that is printed and sold on T-shirts, usually accompanied by the skull and crossbones of a pirate flag. She explained that she was being “definitely metaphorical.”

Soon after, Ms. Oh heard from the A.C.L.U. manager overseeing its equity and inclusion efforts, Amber Hikes, who cautioned Ms. Oh about her language. Ms. Oh’s comment was “dangerous and damaging,” Ms. Hikes warned, because she seemed to suggest the former supervisor physically assaulted her.

“Please consider the very real impact of that kind of violent language in the workplace,” Ms. Hikes wrote in an email.

Ms. Oh acknowledged she had been wrong and apologized.

Over the next several weeks, senior managers documented other instances in which they said Ms. Oh mistreated Black employees.

In early March, Ben Needham, who had succeeded the recently departed national political director, reported that Ms. Oh called her direct supervisor, a Black woman, a liar. According to his account, he asked Ms. Oh why she hadn’t complained earlier.

She responded that she was “afraid” to talk to him.

“As a Black male, language like ‘afraid’ generally is code word for me,” Mr. Needham wrote in an email to other A.C.L.U. managers. “It is triggering for me.”

Mr. Needham, who is gay and grew up in the Deep South, said in an interview that as a child, “I was taught that I’m a danger.”

To hear someone say they’re afraid of him, he added, is like saying, “These are the people we should be scared of.”

Ms. Oh and her lawyers have cited her own past: As a survivor of domestic abuse, she was particularly sensitive to tense interactions with male colleagues. She said she was troubled by Mr. Needham’s once referring to his predecessor as a “friend,” since she was one of the employees who had criticized him.

Mr. Needham said he had been speaking only about their relationship in a professional context.

According to court records, the A.C.L.U. conducted an internal investigation into whether Ms. Oh had any reason to fear talking to Mr. Needham, and concluded there were “no persuasive grounds” for her concerns.

The following month, Ms. Hikes, the head of equity and inclusion, wrote to Ms. Oh, documenting a third incident — her own.

“Calling my check-in ‘chastising’ or ‘reprimanding’ feels like a willful mischaracterization in order to continue the stream of anti-Black rhetoric you’ve been using throughout the organization,” Ms. Hikes wrote in an email.

“I’m hopeful you’ll consider the lived experiences and feelings of those you work with,” she added. (Citing the ongoing case, the A.C.L.U. said Ms. Hikes was unable to comment for this article.)

The final straw leading to Ms. Oh’s termination, the organization said, came in late April, when she wrote on Twitter that she was “physically repulsed” having to work for “incompetent/abusive bosses.”

As caustic as her post was — likely grounds for dismissal in most circumstances — her speech may have been protected. The N.L.R.B.’s complaint rests on an argument that Ms. Oh, as an employee who had previously complained about workplace conditions with other colleagues, was engaging in what is known legally as “protected concerted activity.”

“The public nature of her speech doesn’t deprive it of N.L.R.A. protection,” said Charlotte Garden, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, referring to the National Labor Relations Act, which covers worker’s rights.

She added that the burden of proof rests with the N.L.R.B., which must convince the judge that Ms. Oh’s social media post, and her other comments, were part of a pattern of speaking out at work.

“You could say this is an outgrowth of that, and therefore is protected,” she said.

The A.C.L.U. has argued that it has a right to maintain a civil workplace, just as Ms. Oh has a right to speak out. And it has not retreated from its contention that her language was harmful to Black colleagues, even if her words were not explicitly racist.

Terence Dougherty, the general counsel, said in an interview that standards of workplace conduct in 2024 have shifted, likening the case to someone who used the wrong pronouns in addressing a transgender colleague.

“There’s nuance to the language,” Mr. Dougherty said, “that does really have an impact on feelings of belonging in the workplace.”

Jeremy W. Peters is a Times reporter who covers debates over free expression and how they impact higher education and other vital American institutions. More about Jeremy W. Peters