Adolescents and young adults and the quest for mental health and well-being: experiences from the african character initiation program (ACIP)

Abstract

Adolescence is a beautiful stage in human development. However, it is riddled with crises as young people explore, identify, and develop their identities in response to the ultimate question of human existence: Who am I? With dramatic physiological, mental, social, and spiritual changes, young adults are vulnerable to identity crises. Across Africa, Indigenous communities have various rites for adolescents, basically designed to meet their search for individual identity and belonging. These rites are being (re)negotiated, contested, and (re)invented. Tensions arising from parenting, the emergence of complementary parenting institutions, and technological advancement compound this and create new modes of identity and belonging, which in turn lead to constant stress on adolescent health and well-being. This chapter highlights some experiences of adolescents and young adults in expressing their identity over the last 20 years before zeroing in on their gender and sexual identity exploration and search for belonging through modern rites of passage. The chapter uses the experiences of alumni of the African Character Initiation Program (ACIP) to mark ACIP’s 20th anniversary. It concludes that identity and belonging are multiple, complex, and dynamic; the search for identity and belonging affects health and well-being, and national values are integral to holistic development.