Abstract:
This qualitative case study explores the disclosure practices of a
South African-born adolescent who is raised in a lesbian-parent
family in the United States of America, in an attempt to understand
how adolescents negotiate their unique family structure throughout
their daily lives. The data in this study were analysed using thematic
content analysis. The concept of moral cultures is adopted from the
work of Hart and Carlo (2005) and identified in the following dominant
discourses in the life of the adolescent participant, namely:
religion, school, friends, acquaintances and society at large, and
emotions. Furthermore, social control seems to be a very prominent
factor in the decision of adolescents raised in same-gendered
families to disclose or withhold information. Casual-calculated disclosure
is identified as a method for social control, when disclosing
information about the family structure becomes inevitable for an
individual. Furthermore, the decision to disclose is generally based
on (1) a perception of urgency, (2) the existence of an intimate relationship,
and (3) the disclosure of information based on a shared
experience.
