Dissertation Research: Exchange, Local Meanings of Exchange and Their Consequences among Youth in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia

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This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from the University of Calivornia-Irvine. The project is to conduct ethnographic research among adolescents in Chuuk, Micronesia, on the topic of resource exchanges and teen-aged conflict. The student will test several hypotheses involving the status of adolescents within their households and among their peers and their presence in exchange networks for resources. This region has seen high rates of teen-aged suicides, and the project will test hypotheses relating to how and why adolescents feel marginalized in varying situations and how this relates to their ability to exchange various sorts of resources. Methods will include a sample of three villages to be censused and a sub-sample of young men, young women, mothers and fathers to whom cognitive tests will be administered. In addition narratives of exchange and support as well as event histories will be collected. This research is important because it will add to the nation's expertise about this important region of the world, and will advance out cross-cultural understanding of the teen-aged transition to adulthood. This transition is difficult in many societies, as shown by rates of teen suicide, and case studies such as this which shed light on the strengths as well as stresses involving individuals going through the transition will be valuable to policy makers.