Iranian Journal of Educational Sociology 2645-3460 9 2026 09 01 A Sociological Explanation of Adolescent Agency in the Phenomenon of Fuel Carrying with Emphasis on Social Identity Formation: A Case Study of Upper-Secondary School Students in Minab County A Sociological Explanation of Adolescent Agency in the Phenomenon of Fuel Carrying with Emphasis on Social Identity Formation: A Case Study of Upper-Secondary School Students in Minab County 1 12 10.61838/hhy3v958 EN Journal Article 2026 04 01 <p><strong>Purpose:</strong> This study aimed to sociologically explain the lived experiences of male upper-secondary school students in Minab County and to examine how structural constraints, social identity formation, and adolescent agency interact in shaping their participation in the informal economy of fuel carrying.</p> <p><strong>Methods and Materials:</strong> This qualitative study employed thematic analysis based on Braun and Clarke’s approach. Participants consisted of 15 male upper-secondary school students in Minab County who had direct experience of involvement in fuel carrying. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analyzed through systematic familiarization with the data, initial coding, generation and review of themes, definition and naming of themes, and interpretive synthesis. Particular attention was paid to the interaction between structural socioeconomic conditions, peer and community networks, identity construction, risk-taking, and the cultural meanings attributed to fuel carrying within the border-region context.</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong> The interpretive analysis indicated that adolescents’ involvement in fuel carrying emerged from a dialectical relationship between structural deprivation and identity-oriented agency. Livelihood pressure created the structural conditions for participation, while socialization within fuel-carrying networks transmitted locally valued knowledge, norms, and behavioral expectations. Engagement in risky activities functioned as a means of acquiring status, demonstrating masculinity, and achieving social recognition in contexts where formal educational and occupational institutions provided limited opportunities for such recognition. Moreover, the cultural normalization of fuel carrying reduced perceived moral conflict and facilitated its reinterpretation as a legitimate or necessary livelihood strategy. Collectively, the findings suggest that fuel carrying operates not merely as an economic practice but also as a symbolic arena through which adolescents construct agency, belonging, and social identity.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Adolescent participation in fuel carrying should be understood not simply as individual deviance or economic misconduct, but as an adaptive response to structural exclusion, limited legitimate opportunities, and the sociocultural realities of border communities, within which risky informal work may function as a mechanism of identity formation, status attainment, and symbolic transition into adulthood.</p> https://www.qijes.com/index.php/ijes/article/download/1539/1564