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Chapter Summary

Steinberg: Introduction, Adolescent Development in Context

1. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Adolescence


1. Your text approaches the topic of adolescent development in a multidisciplinary fashion by drawing on the following disciplines: psychology, biology, history, sociology, education, and anthropology.


2. The goal of this book is to integrate the contributions from different disciplines into a coherent and comprehensive viewpoint on the nature of adolescent development.

2. The Boundaries of Adolescence


1. Adolescenceóa transitional period roughly defined as the second decade of life. There are a variety of different boundaries one might use to define this period (e.g., biological, psychological, social). These boundaries should be viewed as a series of passages from immaturity to maturity. Research indicates that adolescents view psychological factors as more important than event-related transitions in distinguishing adolescents from adults.


2. Early, Middle, and Late Adolescenceósocial scientists have defined early adolescence as the middle school or junior high years, middle adolescence as the high school years, and late adolescence as the college years.

3. A Framework for Studying Adolescence Development


1. The Fundamental Changes of Adolescenceóspecifically the biological, cognitive, and social changes that are universal features of the adolescent period.


2. The Contexts of Adolescenceóusually families, peer groups, schools, and the workplace; they are highly variable across time and place.


3. Psychosocial Development During AdolescenceóThe central psychosocial concerns of adolescence revolve around the same basic issues that surface throughout the life cycle. But during adolescence, these concerns emerge in new forms and change in important ways. Psychosocial development during adolescence is the result of an interplay among the three fundamental forces and the context in which young people live. Thus, although the fundamental changes are universal, their impact on youngstersí development is mediated by the context in which they occur. In order to understand how adolescents develop in contemporary society, we need to understand the ways in which society has changed and how these changes have affected young people.


4. Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescence


1. Biological Theories


2. Organismic Theories


3. Learning Theories


4. Sociological Theories


5. Historical and Anthropological Approaches


5. Stereotypes versus Scientific Study


1. Many of our ideas about adolescence are based on erroneous and stereotypic misconceptions about the period. One of the purposes of the book is to provide students with a more realistic understanding of adolescence in contemporary societyóan understanding that derives from the scientific study of development.


2. Adolescence is a period of change, but not necessarily of stress. One important goal of studying adolescence is to understand the factors that make the period difficult for some individuals but not for others.

Commentary

In this introductory lesson to your text on Adolescent Development, we will be focusing on getting an overview of the course material to be covered and making a plan about how you will be proceeding.

The text covers a wide range of topics pertaining to adolescence. It looks at the universals, or areas that adolescents have in common, and also the particulars, or different experiences of adolescence. The experience of adolescence varies widely due to many factors, both physiological and environmental.

A multidisciplinary approach is taken in the text in order to meet the need for a thorough understanding of adolescent psychological development from many perspectives. The following is a short overview of the disciplines contained within the multidisciplinary approach to which you will be exposed.

The biological approach, which will be covered first, covers physical development in adolescence and the many changes that occuróincluding sex differencesóin timing and sequence. Much new research on the effect of environmental factors on physical development in puberty is highlighted.

Next, the text moves into the area of social development, focusing mainly on the changing nature of the relationships with family and friends during adolescence. There is usually a fairly regular progression through the stages of relationships with parents, same-sex friends, and finally intimate relationships.

How young people as a group are viewed and treated by society is the focus of the next section, the sociological approach. What attitudes do teachers, parents, and other adults in our society have about adolescents, and how do they affect them? This will be explored more fully in the section on the contexts of adolescence.

Comparing adolescents in the United States with those in other cultures may avoid some of the problems that we encounter with our youth. In this section on the cultural approach to studying adolescence, the text makes comparisons not only cross-culturally, but also historically.

The historical approach will take you through the rapid changes our society has undergone in its treatment and attitudes toward youth and the period of adolescence. This period used to be considered adulthood, and included many adult responsibilities, such as marriage, work, and child-rearing. In contemporary society, the period of adolescence is much longer, often extending into the early twenties.

 

Commentary (continued)

What are the Boundaries of Adolescence? Adolescence literally means ìto grow into adulthood.î The immaturity-to-maturity process involves many transitions that can be exciting and wonderful, if sometimes unsettling. The young person begins to realize his or her identity, becomes able to reproduce and relate to others on a sexual level, may work, marry, vote, and ultimately be able to support themselves. These beginning steps toward sophistication and eventual wisdom happen during the phase we call adolescence, and which, for the purposes of this course, are defined as the second decade of the life span.

How do adolescents view this second decade ìgrowthî? While adults tend to focus upon the traditional transitions of graduations, marriage, and change of residence, adolescents themselves feel that the concept of ìtaking responsibilityî means more. Having a job is an important factor in maturing and meeting the appropriate challenges. Types of jobs and the effects of employment on adolescents will be covered in the chapter on work and leisure.

Adolescence can be seen as a series of passages: biological, emotional, cognitive, and social. These can be short or long, smooth or rough, depending on many factors. In your text, adolescence has been defined further into the following periods:

• early adolescence, the years 11ñ14, the middle school years;
• middle adolescence, the years 15ñ18, or the high school years; and
• late adolescence, the years 18ñ21, traditionally the college years.

Each of these phases has different and distinct issues. For example, puberty is of primary importance in early adolescence, while intimacy issues take precedence in late adolescence.

As a framework for studying adolescence, we will be focusing on fundamental changes that occur during this period. The distinct changes that occur at the onset of puberty, the advanced thinking that occurs with the advent of formal thinking, and the transition into new roles in work, school, and relationships provide much to cover in terms of the issues adolescents must face and work through.

 

Commentary (continued)

Biological changes during puberty are quite comprehensive, covering the many physical changes the body goes through. The young person grows in height and weight, his or her reproductive organs mature, friendships change, and, during the course of these changes, the self-image must also change. Adaptation to the changes can be a key factor in the success of traversing the waters of adolescence.

The cognitive changes of adolescence include the acquisition of new abilities, more sophisticated thinking, and formal thinking processes. An adolescent is able to plan ahead; argue abstract concepts; solve problems in relationships; and think about political, religious, and philosophical issues. Oftentimes, adolescents can become extremely ìmoralî in their judgment of othersí behavior. A good example would be the activist demonstrations against the Vietnam War during the 1960s. They are able to understand ethical issues and hypothetical situations in a way that was impossible when they were children.

Social changes encountered by the adolescent reflect the changes in relationships as they mature from children to adults. In some cultures, social changes are marked by rites of passage, such as the Bar Mitzvah. As adolescents enter new roles of work, marriage, and change of residence, this alters their self-image and has an impact on their relationships with family and friends.

By the contexts of adolescence we mean the environments that shape the young person. These include family, peers, school, work and leisure, and other experiences. For example, puberty can affect individuals in largely different ways. The experience of feeling attractive or unattractive, fitting in or feeling different, and maturing early or late, can color the transition of puberty for the adolescent.

Taking a look at how the different contexts can affect the adolescent, the text first focuses on families, and factors such as divorce, single parents, working mothers, moving, and step-families and their effects on adolescent development. There is quite a bit of recent research in these areas, and those of you who enjoy cruising the Web may choose to explore some ìhot-off-the-pressî findings. Peer groups tend to change through adolescence from same-sex groups to groups containing males and females, and finally into groups of couples. Most often, adolescent peer groups contain friends of the same or similar ages.

Looking at the effect of the school context includes not only school hours, but extracurricular activities as well. Schools have been developed to occupy, socialize, and educate the adolescent. More adolescents graduate from school now than ever before in our history, and at least half of these continue on to some form of higher education. Finally, the effects of work and leisure on adolescent development will be examined. Adolescents are working more now than at any time over the past 40 years, but most of their timeóup to 40 percentóis spent on extracurricular activities, sports, and mass media use.

Many of the developmental issues highlighted in the text are present throughout the life span but have particular significance during the adolescent years. Psychosocial development during adolescence includes

• identity issuesóthe discovery and understanding of who they are;
• autonomy issuesódeveloping a healthy sense of independence;
• intimacy issuesóforming close and caring relationships;
• sexuality issuesóexpressing sexual feelings through physical contact; and
• achievement issuesóbecoming successful and competent members of society.

Finally, the text will examine four sets of psychosocial problems including drug and alcohol problems, delinquency, depression, and eating disorders. These problems were chosen for their high prevalence during the teen years. The text will take a look at the incidence factors that cause these problems, interventions, and strategies for prevention.

This overview of the text is meant to help you to organize your thinking about what to expect from this course. Each of the following lessons will be presented in a similar format, and it may be helpful for you to decide upon a strategy or ìplan of attackî that you will use to motivate yourself to work through each lesson.

 

Review Questions

Complete the following multiple-choice questions, then check your answers against those in the Appendix file. These questions are for review only. Do not submit them as an assignment.

1. All of the following disciplines are used to approach the topic of adolescent development except


1. psychology
2. biology
3. sociology
4. spirituality
5. education


2. Adolescence is a transitional period that is roughly defined as


1. the years from 13 to 19
2. the first decade of life
3. the second decade of life
4. the third decade of life


3. Late adolescence is differentiated from middle and early adolescence and refers to the


1. middle school years
2. junior high years
3. high school years
4. college years


4. Contexts of adolescence are highly variable across time and place. The text focuses on all of the following contexts except


1. families
2. peer groups
3. natural settings
4. schools
5. workplaces


5. Which of the following statements about adolescence is true?


1. Adolescence is a period of stress but not necessarily change.
2. Adolescence is difficult for everyone.
3. In distinguishing adolescents from adults, adolescents view psychological factors as more important than event-related transitions.
4. The changes society has undergone have affected adolescents.