ting to confront the conflict between finding her own identity and being confused about her role in society (Berger, 19--, p. 40). Like many adolescents, she is acutely aware of her unique identity but unsure about where she fits into the larger world around her - or even if she wants to be part of this society that notices her primarily to torment her. Her parents, for instance, only hear her when she happens to make a remark they consider injurious to their precious youngest child, Missy, and they punish Dawn for what is actually an act of asserting her individuality.
Dawn's parents present interesting examples of real parents trying to cope with their different children in different stages of development. All the major theorists emphasize the importance of mothers in the development of healthy, psychologically balanced individuals, and Dawn's is hardly a model of ideal behavior. She clearly favors Missy, the attractive, lovable child, over Mark and Dawn, the nerdy, "different" children. When Dawn runs away from
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