Identity maps

Participants will:

• Think about the different aspects of their identity, and how it is important to them
• Discuss their identities and the things or circumstances that impact them

Participants will develop:

• An understanding of the different elements of identities
• An increased awareness of the connection between personal identity and conflicts
• An understanding that different parts of personal identities appear with a different
  intensity depending on the surrounding

Materials

Paper and pens. If you are planning identity maps as masks, you will also need paper plates, elastic bands, and scissors and/or a hole punch.

Before you start

Lay out some paper and pens on tables – each participant will need one sheet of paper (if you are doing masks, each participant will need at least one paper plate and some elastic bands as well). Print out copies the list of questions (see below – they are also listed in Appendix 1 of the IFM Peace Education Handbook, pg. 45, see downloads). You should have enough copies for each small group.

What to do

1. Ask participants to think about what makes up their identity, for example their profession, gender, beliefs, nationality, hobbies, gender, history etc. Ask them to draw themselves and the different elements of their identity around them; they can mark out connections, draw more important elements bigger, and place some elements more central than others.
2. Divide the participants into small groups to explain their identity maps to one another. Make it clear that they only have to share what they would like to share.
3. Then give the list of questions to each group and ask them to discuss their answers.
4. Come back together as a whole and ask the small groups to share two or three things from their small discussion.

List of Questions

• Which part of your identity appears most strongly when you meet your parents?
• Which part of your identity appears most strongly when you meet your siblings/cousins/other family members?
• Which part of your identity appears most strongly when you meet your friends?
• Which part of your identity appears most strongly when you meet your teachers?
• Which part of your identity appears most strongly on a summer camp?
• Which part of your identity appears most strongly in school?
• Which part of your identity appears most strongly when you meet someone you recently had a conflict with?
• Which part of your identity appears most strongly in this group?

Debriefing

• Was it difficult to think about your identity in different situations?
• Do you think your identity remains stable over time?
• Why do you think different parts of your identity appear more strongly at certain moments or in specific situations?
• Are there any parts of your identity that are more important than others and that you would defend more strongly?
• Do you sometimes have conflicts with other people because of parts of your identity? Which ones? Why do you think that is?
• How do you react in these situations? How would you like others to react to your conflicting identity? What do you think are good ways of dealing with conflicting identities?
• Point out that many conflicts are caused by conflicting identities between individuals or groups, and that it is important to create dialogue to understand others’ identities and how they shape their worldviews and behaviours.

Tips for facilitators

You can also draw the identity maps as face masks. Use paper plates, make holes for the eyes and nose and small holes for elastics at the sides. Then you can discuss how masks can represent identities. Could you put different masks on at different times? Is there a mask that you would never be able to take off?

Extract from the guidelines of the Middle East cooperation of IFM-SEI:

Although we stand together, our bond is based on the acknowledgment of each other’s right for self-determination and collective identity. We must always bring our identities to every meeting and dialogue. Only by doing this can we create the equal grounds on which our cooperation is being built. Since we grow in an atmosphere of conflict and separation we must always come closer towards each other by learning and discussing our differences. In order to do so, we deal critically with our fears and dreams. We learn to see the uniqueness in every aspect of our cultures as a way to bring our people in dialogue. With every step forward we stop our nations from drifting apart, letting more people understand the benefits of such cooperation, of such a future.