Adolescence: Between Childhood and Adulthood
Adolescence is the developmental stage between childhood and adulthood; it generally
refers to a period ranging from age 12 or 13 through age 19 or 21. Although its
beginning is often balanced with the beginning of puberty, adolescence is characterized
by psychological and social stages as well as by biological changes.
Adolescence can be prolonged, brief, or virtually nonexistent, depending on the type of
culture in which it occurs. In societies that are simple, for example, the transition
from childhood to adulthood tends to occur rather rapidly, and is marked by traditionally
prescribed passage rites. to contrast this, American and European societies the
transition period for young people has been steadily lengthening over the past 100 years,
giving rise to an adolescent subculture. As a result of this prolonged transitional stage
a variety of problems and concerns specifically associated with this age group have
developed. Psychologists single out four areas that especially touch upon adolescent
behavior and development: physiological change and growth; cognitive, or mental
development; identity, or personality formation; and parent-adolescent relations.
Physiological Change:
Between the ages of 9 and 15, almost all young people undergo a rapid series of
physiological changes, known as the adolescent growth spurt. These hormonal changes
include an acceleration in the body's growth rate; the development of pubic hair; the
appearance of axillary, or armpit, hair about two years later. There are changes in the
structure and functioning of the reproductive organs; the mammary glands in girls; and
development of the sweat glands, which often leads to an outbreak of acne. In both
sexes, these physiological changes occur at different times. This period of change can
prove to be very stressful for a pre-teen. For during this stage of life appearance is
very important. An adolescent child who develops very early or extremely late can take a
lot of ridicule from his or her peers. However, the time at which a girl goes through
this stage and a male goes through it are different.
Girls typically begin their growth spurt shortly after age 10. They tend to reach their
peak around the age 12, and tend to finish by age 14. This spurt occurs almost two years
later in boys. Therefore boys go through a troubling period where girls are taller and
heavier than them. This awkward period occurs from ages ten and one-half to thirteen.
Time is not the only difference in the pubescent period for boys and girls.
In girls, the enlargement of the breasts is usually the first physical sign of puberty.
Actual puberty is marked by the beginning of menstruation, or menarche. In the United
States, 80 percent of all girls reach menarche between the ages of eleven and one-half
and fourteen and one-half, 50 percent between 12 and 14, and 33 percent at or before age
11. The average age at which menstruation begins for American girls has been dropping
about six months every decade, and today contrasts greatly with the average age of a
century ago, which is between 15 and 17.
Boys typically begin their rapid increase in growth when they reach about twelve and
one-half years of age. They reach their peak slightly after 14, and slow down by age 16.
This period is marked by the enlargement of the testes, scrotum, and penis; the
development of the prostate gland; darkening of the scrotal skin. The growth of pubic
hair and pigmented hair on the legs, arms, and chest takes place during this period. The
enlargement of the larynx, containing the vocal cords, which leads to a deepening of the
voice causes much stress for a pubescent boy. In this transitional period in his voice
tends to "crack."
Cognitive Development:
Current views on the mental changes that take place during adolescence have been
affected heavily by the work of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who sees the
intellectual capability of adolescents as both "qualitatively and quantitatively superior
to that of younger children." According to Piaget and the developmentalist school of
psychology, the thinking capacity of young people automatically increases in complexity
as a function of age. Developmentalists find distinct differences between younger and
older adolescents in ability to generalize, to handle abstract ideas, to infer
appropriate connections between cause and effect, and to reason logically and
consistently.
Whether these changes in cognitive ability are a result of the developmental stage, as
Piaget suggests, or should be considered the result of accumulating knowledge that allows
for new mental and moral perspectives, an enlarged capacity for making distinctions, and
a greater awareness of and sensitivity to others, is a question that psychologists
continually debate. Behaviorists such as Harvard's B. F. Skinner did not believe
intellectual development could be divided into distinct stages. He preferred to emphasize
the influence of conditioning experiences on behavior as a result of continuous
punishments and rewards. Trying to prove that intellectual ability in adolescence
differs from that of earlier years, as a result of learning, or acquiring more
appropriate responses through conditioning. Other investigators have found a strong tie
between certain socioeconomic characteristics and adolescent intellectual achievement.
Statistics suggest that well-educated, economically secure, small-sized families provide
the kind of environment which intellectual development among adolescents is most apt to
flourish. This environment should also include parental encouragement, individual
attention, and an extended vocabulary use. Test scores, however, seem to be more related
to the verbal ability than to the performance aspects of adolescents' intelligence.
Identity Formation:
Psychologists also disagree about the causes and significance of the emotional and
personality changes that occur during adolescence. Many Freudian psychologists believe
that the straightforward sexual awakening of adolescents is an inevitable cause of
emotional strain. This strain sometimes leads to neurosis. Psychologists who have
different beliefs place less emphasis on the specific sexual aspects of adolescence.
These physiologists consider sex as only one of many adjustments young people must make
in their search for an identity.
The effects of physical change, the development of sexual impulses, increased
intellectual capacity, and social pressure to achieve independence are all contributor to
the molding of a new self. The components of identity formation are connected to the
adolescent's self-image. This means adolescents are greatly affected by the opinions of
people who are important in their lives and interact with them. Gradually, the
emotional dependency of childhood transforms into an emotional commitment to meet the
expectations of others. An adolescent seeks to please parents, peers, teachers,
employers and so on. If adolescents fail to meet the goals set for them by the important
people in their lives, they usually feel like they have to reevaluate their motives,
attitudes, or activities. The approval that seems necessary at this stage can help
determine both their later commitment to responsible behavior and their sense of social
competence throughout life.
The peer group of an adolescent also provide a standard in which they can measure
themselves during the process of identity formation. Within the peer group, a young
person can try out a variety of roles. Whether taking the role of a leader or follower,
deviant or conformist, the values and norms of the group allow them to acquire a
perspective of their own. A peer group can also help with the transition from reliance
on the family to relative independence. There is a common language amongst adolescents,
whether it is clothing, music, or gossip, these forms of expression allow them to display
their identity. This new form of association helps to ease the anxiety of leaving their
past source of reference to their identity.
Parent-Adolescent Relations:
The family has traditionally provided a set of values for young people to observe.
Through this observation they can begin to learn adult ways of behavior. In modern
industrial societies the nuclear family has come to be relatively unstable, for divorce
is growing increasingly common and many children reach adolescence with only one parent.
In addition, rapid social changes have weakened the smoothens of life experience.
Adolescents a greater difference between the parental-child generations then their
parent did. They tend to view their parents as having little capacity to guide them in
their transition from their world to the larger world. The conflict that sometimes
results from differing parent-adolescent perceptions is called the "generation gap."
Such conflicts are not inevitable, for it is less likely to happen in families in which
both adolescents and parents have been exposed to the same new ideas and values.
Other parental characteristics that commonly influence adolescents include social class,
the pattern of equality or dominance between mother and father, and the consistency with
which parental control is exercised. Young people with parents whose guidance is firm,
consistent, and rational tend to possess greater self-confidence than those whose parents
are either overly tolerant or strict.
Adolescence In Modern Society:
Adolescence is often looked upon as a period of stormy and stressful transition.
Anthropologists have noted that in less developed cultures the adolescent years do not
always have to exhibit such characteristics, when children can participate fully in the
activities of their community. As life in industrialized societies grows more complex,
however, adolescents are increasingly cut off from the activities of their elders,
leaving most young people with education as their sole occupation. Inevitably, this has
isolated many of them from the adult world and has prolonged their adolescence. In
advanced industrial societies such as the United States, the adolescent years have become
marked by violence to an alarming degree. The phenomenon of teenage suicide has become
particularly disturbing, but risk-taking behaviors of many sorts can be observed,
including alcohol and drug abuse.
Bibliography:
Conger, John J., Adolescence: Generation under Pressure (1980)
Dacey, J. E., Adolescents Today, 3d ed. (1986)
Fuhrman, B. S., Adolescence, Adolescents (1986)
Hauser, Stuart T., et al., Adolescents and Their Families (1991)
Santrock, J. W., Adolescence: An Introduction, 3d ed. (1987)
Sprinthall, Norman, and Collins, W. A., Development in Adolescence, 2d ed. (1985).
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