Le développement d’une identité positive, soit la capacité de trouver un sens à son histoire et de se projeter dans l’avenir, constituerait un facteur d’adaptation particulièrement puissant au cours de l’adolescence et de la transition vers l’âge adulte. L’objectif de notre étude était d’explorer l’identité narrative de jeunes 16–18 ans dits « vulnérables » en raison d’une histoire familiale difficile nécessitant l’intervention des services sociaux de protection de la jeunesse (n=23). La méthode Photovoice a été utilisée pour permettre aux jeunes de répondre aux questions « D’où je viens ? », « Qui je suis ? » et « Qui est-ce que je veux devenir ? ». Leurs réponses ont donné lieu à une analyse lexicométrique réalisée à l’aide du logiciel ALCESTE. Trois types de discours ont été identifiés par le logiciel. Le genre et l’origine des jeunes (Autochtones versus non-autochones) sont significativement associés à chacun de ces profils.

The development of a positive identity that enables youth to make sense of their past and present and to visualize their future is considered to be a powerful protective factor in the transition to adulthood. However, for vulnerable youth, this process is often hindered by having to deal with a traumatic familial history and actual difficulties. The goal of our study was to explore the narrative identity of 23 vulnerable youths who are receiving services from youth protection. Rooted in a constructivist approach, our research project used Photovoice (Wang, 2000) to allow youths in care to reflect upon their past, their present and their future. Youths were invited to take pictures in order to answer three questions: Where do I come from? What am I now? What I want to become? In group sessions, youths discussed each question by showing one or two picture and their signification. Verbatim of the group discussions and to a lesser extent, pictures, constituted the data of the research. The transcription of discussions was analyzed through a lexicometric analysis using ALCESTE software. Three types of discourse were differentiated across the data and varied across gender and participant's ethnicity. The first type of discourse included mainly non-Aboriginal male youth and was characterized by a focus on the present, risky behaviors and drug abuse. The second type of discourse was composed by segments about the past, family history, separation and loss that were verbalized by females. Finally, the third group reflected segments about art, self-actualization and the future that were representative of Aboriginal youth. Results are discussed using narrative identity theory and time perspective theory.