Adolescent development
literature
Introduction: The Study of Adolescent Development
Adolescence: The stage of development that begins with puberty and ends when individuals make
the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about age 10 until the early 20s.
Transitions:
- Biological
- Psychological
- Social
- Economic
We can think of development during adolescence as involving a series of transitions from immaturity
into maturity.
- Early adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 10 to 13, corresponding roughly to the
junior high or middle school years.
- Middle adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 14 to 17, corresponding to the high
school years.
- Late adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 18 to 21, corresponding approximately
to the college years.
- Emerging adulthood: The period spanning roughly ages 18 to 25, during which individuals
make the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
- Puberty: The biological changes of adolescence.
John Hill (1983). The model has three basic components:
the fundamental changes of adolescence. à What, if anything, is distinctive about adolescence as a
period in development?
biological, cognitive, and social dimensions. (all adolescents in every society go through them)
, 1. The onset of puberty (biological): The chief elements of the biological changes of
adolescence—which collectively are referred to as puberty—involve changes in the young
person’s physical appearance and the development of the ability to conceive children.
2. The emergence of more advanced thinking abilities (cognitive): The word cognitive refers to
the processes that underlie how people think. Compared with children, adolescents are
much better able to think about hypothetical situations and about abstract concepts, such as
friendship, democracy, or morality.
1. The transition into new roles in society (social): All societies distinguish between individuals
who are viewed as children and those who are seen as ready to become adults. Changes in
rights, privileges, and responsibilities.
rite of passage: A ceremony or ritual marking an individual’s transition from one social
status to another, especially marking the young person’s transition to adulthood.
the contexts of adolescence à The psychological impact of the biological, cognitive, and social
changes of adolescence is shaped by the environment in which the changes take place.
Ecological perspective on human development: A perspective on development that emphasizes the
broader context in which development occurs.
In modern societies, there are four main contexts in which young people spend time:
- Families: It’s important to understand how changes within the family, and in the broader
context of family life, affect young people’s psychological development.
- Peer groups: Has the rise of peer groups in contemporary society been a positive or negative
influence on young people’s development?
- Schools: Contemporary society depends on schools to occupy, socialize, and educate
adolescents.
- Work and leisure settings: part-time jobs, extracurricular activities and the mass media,
including social media. To what extent do these forces influence adolescents’ attitudes,
beliefs, and behavior?
the psychosocial developments of adolescence à The major psychosocial developments of
adolescence— identity, autonomy ,intimacy, sexuality, and achievement—as well as certain
psychosocial problems that may arise at this age. Social scientists use the word psychosocial to
describe aspects of development that are both psychological and social in nature.
- Identity: discovering and understanding who we are as individuals (the realms of identity,
self-esteem, and self-conceptions).
- Autonomy: establishing a healthy sense of independence (becoming less emotionally
dependent on parents, learning to function independently, and establishing a personal code
of values and morals).
- intimacy: forming close and caring relationships with others (friendships emerge that involve
openness, honesty, loyalty, and exchange of confidences)
- sexuality: expressing sexual feelings and enjoying physical contact with others (Concerns
that include incorporating sexuality into a still-developing sense of self, understanding one’s
sexual orientation, resolving questions about sexual values and morals, and coming to terms
with the sorts of relationships the adolescent is prepared—or not prepared—to enter).
- achievement: being successful and competent members of society (decisions depend on
adolescents’ achievement in school, on their evaluations of their own competencies and
capabilities, on their aspirations and expectations for the future, and on the direction and
advice they receive from parents, teachers, and friends).
, - Psychosocial Problems: drug and alcohol use and abuse, delinquency and other
“externalizing problems”, and depression and other “internalizing problems”
Understanding how and why such psychosocial developments take place during
adolescence
Biosocial theories à Theories of adolescence that emphasize the biological changes of the period.
- Hall’s Theory of Recapitulation: stages achieved by instinct—by biological and genetic forces
within the person—and hardly influenced by the environment. The adolescence is inevitably
a period of “storm and stress.” à The best that society can do is to find ways of managing the
young person whose “raging hormones” invariably cause difficulties.
- Dual systems theories: “Dual systems” or “maturational imbalance” theories. The
simultaneous development of two different brain systems—one that governs the ways in
which the brain processes rewards, punishments, and social and emotional information, and
another that regulates self-control and advanced thinking abilities, such as planning or logical
reasoning. The arousal of this first system takes place early in adolescence, while the second
system is still maturing.
Organismic Theories à Theories of adolescence that emphasize the interaction between the
biological changes of the period and the contexts in which they take place.
- Freudian Theory: the psychosexual conflicts that arise at different points in development.
Puberty temporarily throws the adolescent into a period of psychological crisis by reviving
old conflicts over uncomfortable sexual urges that had been buried in the unconscious
(including feelings toward one’s parents).
- Eriksonian Theory: Erikson stressed the psychosocial, rather than the psychosexual, conflicts
faced by the individual at each point in time. The challenge of adolescence is to resolve the
identity crisis and to emerge with a coherent sense of who one is and where one is headed.
- Piagetian Theory: Examining changes in the nature of thinking. Adolescence marks the
transition from concrete to abstract thought
Learning Theories à Theories of adolescence that emphasize the ways in which patterns of behavior
are acquired through reinforcement and punishment or through observation and imitation.
- Behaviorism: emphasize the processes of reinforcement and punishment as the main
influences on adolescent behavior. Adolescents’ behavior is nothing more or less than the
product of the various reinforcements and punishments they’ve been exposed to.
- Social Learning Theory: emphasize the ways in which adolescents learn how to behave, but
they place more weight on the processes of observational learning and imitation
Sociological Theories à Theories of adolescence that emphasize the ways in which adolescents, as a
group, are treated by society
- Adolescent Marginality: There is a vast difference in power between the adult and the
adolescent generations, which may leave young people feeling marginalized, or insignificant.
, - Intergenerational Conflict: conflict between the generations. They grow up under different
social circumstances and therefore develop different sets of attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Historical and Anthropological Perspectives
- Adolescence as an Invention: adolescence is entirely a social invention. The way in which we
divide the life cycle into stages—drawing a boundary between childhood and adolescence,
for example—is nothing more than a reflection of the political, economic, and social
circumstances in which we live
- Anthropological Perspectives: these thinkers viewed adolescence as a culturally defined
experience—stressful and difficult in societies that saw it this way, but calm and peaceful in
societies that had an alternative vision.
Stereotypes of adolescents as troubling and troubled have important implications for how teenagers
are treated by parents, teachers, and other adults
Chapter 1: Biological transitions
Puberty has four chief physical manifestations:
1. A rapid acceleration in growth à dramatic increases in height and weight.
2. The development of primary sex characteristics, including the further development of the
gonads (sex glands) à a series of hormonal changes.
3. The development of secondary sex characteristics, including changes in the genitals and
breasts, and the growth of public, facial, and body hair
4. Changes in the brain’s anatomy and activity as a result of hormonal influences.
The Endocrine System
The Hormonal Feedback Loop
The endocrine system produces, circulates, and regulates levels of hormones. Hormones are highly
specialized substances that are secreted by one or more endocrine glands and then enter the
bloodstream and travel throughout the body. Glands are organs that stimulate particular parts of the
body to respond in specific ways. Many of the hormones that play important roles at puberty carry
their instructions by activating certain brain cells, called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
neurons.
When a particular hormonal level in your body dips below the endocrine system’s set point for that
hormone, secretion of the hormone increases; when the level reaches the set point, secretion
temporarily stops. à can be adjusted up or down
Feedback loop (the HPG axis): A cycle through which two or more bodily functions respond to and
regulate each other
- The pituitary gland: controls hormone levels in general
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