A Grounded Theory of Adolescent Identity Formation in Post-Conflict Communities in North East Nigeria

This study develops a grounded theory of adolescent identity formation among youth growing up in post-conflict communities in North East Nigeria. Conventional identity development theories, principally those of Erikson and Marcia, were constructed in stable Western societal contexts and offer limited guidance for understanding how adolescents construct coherent identities amid the disruptions of armed conflict, displacement, community trauma, and reconstruction. This research employed a constructivist grounded theory methodology involving 95 purposively sampled adolescents aged 14 to 19 years from communities in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states, supplemented by 30 interviews with caregivers, teachers, and community leaders. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and reflective focus groups over an 18-month fieldwork period, with concurrent comparative analysis guiding theoretical sampling decisions. Systematic coding procedures produced a substantive grounded theory centred on the concept of Contested Identity Navigation, in which adolescents continuously negotiate between disrupted pre-conflict self-narratives, conflict-forged survival identities, and aspirational post-reconstruction selves. Community elder guidance and religious belonging emerged as core stabilising mechanisms in this process. The theory challenges deficit framings of post-conflict adolescent development and positions young people as active, resourceful identity agents within constrained structural circumstances. The study makes an original theoretical contribution to identity development scholarship and recommends community-based rites of passage and mentoring programmes grounded in the study's findings. Keywords: adolescent identity, post-conflict, grounded theory, North East Nigeria, contested identity.