This documentation of an encounter with the evolving concept of identity is broad and inclusive. It contains an impressive review of relevant literature, an attempt to correlate ideas from various disciplines, and mention of some intriguing topics.

After a survey of the vicissitudes of the concept of identity until it enters the field of psychiatry, the author discusses Erikson's ideas. Using literary examples, he then illustrates the failure to establish an identity and the failure to renounce an obsolete identity. Then follows a discussion of the literature after Erikson—from sociology, experimental psychology, social psychology, and psychoanalysis—and a discussion, largely sociological, about roles. In his concluding