Adolescence 13th edition summary for first exam. Chapters for the first exam are summarized: Introduction, chapter 3, 8, 1, 2 and partially 9. In English. Adolescent development course.
Introduction adolescence
A complete understanding of adolescence in contemporary society depends on being
familiar with biological, social, sociological, cultural, and historical perspective.
Adolescence is defined as the second decade of the life span. It begins around age 10 and
ends in the early 20s.
Adolescence has three different stages:
1. Early adolescence (about ages 10-13)
2. Middle adolescence (about 14-17)
3. Late adolescence (about 18-21)
>> These divisions correspond to the way our society groups young people in educational
institutions
Some have suggested that a new phase of life called emerging adulthood or youthhood now
characterizes the early and mid 20s
Framework from John Hill based on three basic components:
- The fundamental changes of adolescence
- The contexts of adolescence
- The psychosocial developments of adolescence
The fundamental changes of adolescence
Three features of adolescent development give the period its significance:
1. Biological transitions >> The onset of puberty
2. Cognitive transitions >> The emergence of more advanced thinking abilities
3. Social transitions >> The transition into new roles in society (a rite of passage)
The psychological impact of the biological, cognitive, and social changes of adolescence is
shaped by the environment in which the changes take place.
According to the ecological perspective on human development:
We cannot understand the development without examining the settings, or context, in
which it occurs.
The second component of the framework is context
Four main contexts:
1. Families
2. Peer groups
3. Schools
4. Work and leisure, and the mass media
>> These contexts are located in different places which influence the contexts
The third component is psychosocial developments of adolescence
Psychosocial = development aspects that are both psychological and social (sexuality)
, - Identity: self-conceptions, self-esteem, and the sense of who one is
- Autonomy: the development and expression of independence
- Intimacy: the formation, maintenance, and termination of close relationships
- Sexuality: the development and expression of sexual feelings
- Achievement: behaviors and feelings in evaluative situations
Adolescence is the most common time in life to experience psychological difficulties:
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Delinquency and other externalizing problems
- Depression and other internalizing problems
Theoretical perspectives >> nurture or nature?
Biosocial theories
Hormonal and physical changes of puberty as driving forces
G. Stanley Hall, recapitulation
- Development of the individual parallels the development of the human species
- Development stages determined by instinct
- Adolescence is inevitably a period of “storm and stress”
- Current work explores the genetic bases of individual differences
Dual system theories
- Focuses on the changes in the anatomy and activity of the brain
- Two different brain systems
One that governs the way the brain processes rewards, punishments, and
social and emotional information > early adolescence
One that regulates self-control and advanced thinking abilities (planning,
logical reasoning) > still maturing
- This creates maturational imbalance
- Creating a better self-regulation is the main challenge so that the imbalance isn’t
problematical
Organismic theories
Importance of biological changes and contextual forces that interact with each other
Freudian theory
- Psychosexual conflicts that arise at different points in development
- Adolescence as a time of upheaval/disruption
- Psychological crisis about conflicts of uncomfortable sexual urges from the
unconscious
- Anna Freud >> adolescents need to break away and detach from their parents to
develop normally
Eriksonian theory
- Focusses on the psychosocial rather than the psychosexual conflicts
- Eight stages in psychosocial development, characterized by a specific crisis because
of the interplay between the internal forces and the demands of society
- Challenge of adolescence is to resolve the identity crisis and to emerge with a
coherent sense of who one is and headed
, Piagetian theory
- Development understood by examining changes in the nature of thinking
- Adolescence marks the transition from concrete to abstract thought
- Being capable of thinking in hypothetical terms influenced by internal biological
changes and changes in the intellectual environment
Learning theories
The context in which behavior takes place and the content of what is learned
The basic processes of human behavior are the same during all life spans
Behaviorism
- The processes of reinforcement and punishment as influence on adolescent behavior
- B.F. Skinner >> operant conditioning
Reinforcement is the process through which behavior is made less likely to
occur again
Social learning theory
- Albert Bandura
- Learning how to behave with reinforcement and punishment, but also with an
emphasis on the processes of observational learning and imitation
Sociological theories
Focus on the factors that all adolescents or groups of adolescents have in common by virtue
of their age
Adolescent marginality
- Kurt Lewin and Edgar Friedenberg
- Young people may feel marginalized, because of the power difference between them
and adults
Intergenerational conflict
- Karl Mannheim and James Coleman
- Adolescents and adults grow up under different social circumstances >> different set
of attitudes, values, and beliefs
- Therefore, there is an inevitable tension between the adolescent and adult
generations
Historical and anthropological perspectives
Glen Elder, Joseph Kett, and Thomas Hine
Adolescence as a developmental period has varied considerably from one historical era to
another >> it is impossible to generalize issues of adolescence
The issues all depend on the social, political, and economic forces present
Adolescence as an intervention
- The way in which we divide the life cycle into stages reflects political, economic, and
social circumstances
- Social conditions define the nature of adolescent development
Anthropological perspectives
- Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead
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