Proponents of Meadian self theory mail1tain that language
is the critical mechanism that allows the self to emerge
processually through symbolic interaction. Because of the
role of hearing in language development, one who is deaf and
cannot hear the spoken language is not able to stimulate himself
and others with the sounds that make meaningful communication
possible. The major aim of the present study was to
determine the impact of the inability to hear on the development and the expression of the self concept in twenty hearing
and twenty non hearing adolescents in Virginia.
An exploratory study of the self through the use of the
"Who Am I" test, an open ended test entitied "The Person You
Are" and an adaptation of Gordon's self configuration scheme
to the "Who Am I" test served as measures to the problem at
hand.
The data revealed that the inability to hear and so to
verbally stimulate oneself results in the development and the
expression of a less than fully reflexive self consciousness.
The "impoverished" self displayed by the deaf adolescents seemed
to stem from their inability to verbally stimulate their "selves"
and "others" and to respond to themselves and others as social
objects.
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