Ambiguous: Which factors in their immediate environment have the greatest influence on mixed-race youth's identity negotiation?

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are important years in forming a secure identity for most youth. However, mixed-race youth (MRY) meet greater restraint in forming a secure identity due to societal structures which inhibit their ability to identify with their racial heritage. MRY face a multitude of factors which oppress their ability to claim identity and experience a sense of belonging within their community (Mckie, 2018). In comparison to their monoracial peers, MRY are more likely to struggle with identity development and sense of belonging when attempting to meet the social demands of family dynamics, peer relationships and immediate environments, such as school and work (Grillo, 2022). Based entirely on physical appearance, they are constantly subject to racial categorization rather than having choice in racial identification. This project aims to identify the role of community and the immediate environment in MRY’s identity development and self-perception. Through the use of poetic inquiry, two MRY constructed poems to discuss their identity development at the individual, interpersonal and community levels. Poetic inquiry has been used for years to empower the voices of vulnerable populations, such as youth, and allows youth to have control in voicing their lived experience. The findings from this study may indicate MRY’s need to assimilate with their community resulting in an inability to claim a self-identity which encompasses the fullness of their racial heritage. Poster submission was sponsored by Dr. Colleen Reid, (Humanities and Social Sciences Department) for course AIST 4500 and was presented at the Coquitlam campus on April 9, 2024, for Student Research Days 2024.