Striving for Legitimacy and Value: A Qualitative Inquiry of Transgender Young Adults Navigating Identity
Purpose: The primary aim of this study is to explore experiences of identity development among racially/ethnically diverse transgender young people as they navigate the journey into adulthood.
Methods: Researchers conducted semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews with racially/ethnically diverse (African-American n=3, Hispanic n=6, white n=3, other n=1) transgender young adults aged 18-29. Consistent with grounded theory methodology, participants were recruited through purposeful, snowball and theoretical sampling procedures, yielding a sample of 6 Transwomen, 7 Transmen, and 1 Genderqueer identified individual at varying stages in their identity development and “transition” processes. Interviews lasted an average of 1.25 hours and were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim.
Analysis: Qualitative data was analyzed using grounded theory strategies (Charmaz, 2006; Corbin & Strauss, 2007) including line-by-line coding, selective coding, and constant comparison within and between data (Charmaz, 2006). Other methods used to ground the analyses in the data included the use of journaling, memoing, and member checking. This process led to identification and ordering of codes, the generation of categories and the emergence of the major analytical concept (Charmaz, 2006) associated with understanding and incorporating an emerging transgender identity during youth and young adulthood, “Striving for Legitimacy”.
Findings: Striving for legitimacy emerged as participants described the processes of navigating a transgender identity, as well as the developmental milestones of youth and adolescence, within a context of invisibility, stigma, and the objectification and pathologization of transgender people. Participants shared experiences of being required to repeatedly explain and justify self-perception, personal history and identity. They described the “work” associated with the quest for legitimacy and value in the eyes of peers, family, and society. The process of achieving legitimacy in one’s own mind was also recounted as a confusing and painful process. Experiences that eased the identity development process included: (1) hearing the term transgender (and related terms) used affirmatively in society, (2) accessing the transgender community via the internet, and (3) experiencing external validation and affirmation of one’s transgender identity.
Conclusions and Implications: Findings underscore the importance of competent clinical practice which values and affirms the range of transgender experiences and demonstrates visible support for the transgender community through transgender inclusive language, programming and advocacy. Schools of social work must take steps to make transgender issues visible by integrating transgender specific content across implicit and explicit curricula and ensuring that forms, policies, and procedures are inclusive. Finally, social work scholars must commit to engage in transgender focused research aimed at giving voice and value to the needs and experiences of transgender individuals across the lifespan.