EARLY HISTORY OF ADOLESCENCE
In the middle ages, children and adolescent were viewed as miniature adults. They were also
treated with harsh discipline in this histories period. In the 18 th c Jean – Jauques Rousseou
offered a more enlightened view of adolescence, restoring the belief that being an adolescent is
not the same as being an adult.
Like Plato (4th C B.C), Rousseou thought that reasoning developed in adolescence. He believed
that from 15-20years of age, individuals mature emotionally and that there selfishness become
replaced by an interest in others. This helped restore the belief that development has distinct
phases
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
It wasn’t until the beginning a twentieth century that the scientific exploration of adolescence
began. This was the important period for the development of the concept we now call
adolescence.
Between 1890 and 1920, a number of psychologist, urban reformers, educators, youth workers
and counselors began to mold the concept of adolescence. Historian Laben G. Stanley Hall
(1844-1924) the father of the scientific study of adolescence. He came up with the storm and
stress concept, that adolescence is turbulent time charged with conflict and mood swings.
Between 1920 – 1950 adolescents gained a move prominent place in the society, and by
1950 every state in America had developed special laws for adolescents.
Leta Hollingworth was a pioneering female and Kenneth, Mamie Clark and George
Sanchez were pioneering ethnic minority individuals in studying adolescents.
Stereotyping of adolescents in any area was common (as is common today).
Widespread generalization are after based on limited set .of highly visible adolescents
This phenomenon is called the “adolescent generalization gap” by Adelson.
THE CURRENT STUDY OF ADOLESCENT
In many ways, it is both the best of time and the worst of times for today’s adolescents. There
world possesses powers and perspective inconceivable less than a century ago. Computers; entire
planet accessible through television, satellites and all travel. However, today the temptations and
hazards of the adult world descend upon adolescents and children so early that two often they are
not cognitively and emotionally ready to handle them effectively. For example television pour
out a bizarre version of reality into the imaginations of adolescents.
However, growing up has never been easy. In many ways, the development tasks of today’s
adolescents are no different from those of adolescents of the 1950s.
Adolescent is not a time of rebellion, crisis, pathology, and defiance. For a large majority of
youth it is far more helpful to see adolescent as a time of evaluation, of decision making, of
commitment and of carving out a place in the world.
Adolescents are not a homogeneous group most adolescents successfully negotiate the lengthy
path to adult maturity, but a large minority do not. Socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, gender, age,
and lifestyle differences influence the development trajectory of every adolescent.
DEFINITION OF ADOLESCENCE
Can be defined as the development period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It
involves biological, cognitive and socio emotional changes.
In America and in most other cultures today adolescence begins at approximately 10-13years of
age and ends between ages of 18 and 22 for most individuals. (Cultural and historical
circumstances limit our ability to attribute an exact age range to adolescent.
The biological, cognitive and socio-emotional changes of adolescent range from the development
of sexual; functions to abstract thinking process to independence.
Development lists increasingly describe adolescence in terms of early and tale periods. Early
adolescence corresponds roughly to middle school or junior high school years and includes most
pubertal change.
Late adolescent refers to approximately the latter half of the second decade of life.
PUBERTY
Is a period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that occur
primarily during early adolescence.
Puberty is an important works of beginning of adolescence.
Determinants of puberty
Puberty determinants include nutrition, health, heredity and body mass. In Norway, menarche –
a girl’s first menstruation – occurs at just ones 13yrs of age, compared to 17 yrs of age in the
1840s.
The available information suggests that menarche began to occur earlier at about the time of the
industrial standards of living and advances in medical science.
Genetic factors are also involved in puberty.
While other factors affect puberty’s timing and variation in its makeup, the basic genetic
program is wired into the nature of the species.
Another key factor in puberty’s occurrence is body mass. Menarche occurs at a relatively
consistent weight in girls. Bodies weight approximating 106 +3 periods can triggers menarche
and the end of the pubertal sport. For menarche to begin and continue fat must make up 17%of
the girl’s body weight.
Puberty however, as not a single, sudden went. We know when a young boy or girls is going
through puberty, but pinpointing its beginning and its ends is difficult. Except for menarche, this
occurs rather late in puberty. For boys the first whiskers or first wet dream are events that could
mark its appearance, but to the many unnoticed.
HORMONAL CHANGES
Hormones one powerful chemical substance secreted by the endocrine glands and carved though
the body by the blood stream.
The endocrine systems role in puberty involves interaction of the hypothalamus, the pituitary
gland, and the gonads (sex glands).
The hypothalamus is a structure in the higher portion of the brain that monitors eating, drinking
and sex.
The pituitary gland collated at the base of the brain is an important endocrine gland that controls
growth and regulates other glands.
The gonads are the sex glands the testes in males – the ovaries in females.
How the hormonal system works
1. a. The pituitary send a signal via gonadotropins (hormones that stimulate the tests
or ovules) to the appropriate
b. This process is called “gonadarche,” the endocrine events that result in reproductive
and fertility
2. A second set of hormone charges is called “adrenarcher.” The process is called
adrenancher the main action here centres on the release of testosterone like hormones
from the outermost of the adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys. This hormone
system contributes to adolescent changes in skin including acne, as well as the
development of pubic and underarm hair
3. A third group of change involves growth hormones (GH) released in pulses from the
pituitary gland. The rote and patterns of GH secretion undergoes modification during
puberty in ways that contributes to significantly to rapid physical growth in adolescence.
Glands to manufacture the hormones then the pituitary gland, though interaction with the
hypothalamus, detects when the optimal level of hormones is reached and responds by
maintaining gonadotropin section
Two primary classic of hormones are:
Important in pubertal development: androgens and estrogen
Androgens are the main class female hormones.
Testosterone is an androgen that plays an important role in male pubertal development.
Increasing testosterone levels are associated with a number of physical changes in boys –i.e
development of external genitals, increase in height, and voice change.
Estradiol –is an estrogen that plays an important role in female pubertal development.
As estradiol level rises, breast development, uterine development and skeletal changes occurs.
Most testosterone and estradiol the present in the hormonal make up of both boys and girls, but
that testosterone male pubertal development, estradiol in female pubertal development.
Theoretical perspective of adolescence
The diversity of theories makes understanding adolescent a challenging undertaking. Just when
one theory appears to correctly explain adolescent development another theory crops up and
makes you rethink your enhance conclusion.
Although no single theory has been able to account for all aspect of adolescent development,
each theory has contributed an important piece of the puzzle.
a) PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES
For the psychoanalytic theorists development is primarily unconscious and is heavily
coloured by emotion. They believe that behaviour is nearly a surface characteristic.
These theorists also believe that early experiences with parents extensively shape our
development.
Freud came up with a belief that personality has 3 structures the id, the ago, and
the superego. Freud considered most of our personality to exist below our level
of awareness (unconscious).
Freud believed that adolescents’ lives are filled with conflict and tension. To
reduce this tension, adolescents keep information locked in there unconscious
mind. Ha believed that even trivial behaviours have special significance when
the unconscious forces behind them are reveled.
Freud also came up with defense mechanism which he described as ego’s way to
defend itself from the anxiety caused the id and superego demands.
Psychoanalysts believe that defuse mechanism are the key to understanding
adolescent adjustment.
This adolescent problems are to be discoursed in the existence of “love object” in the
adolescent’s past. Attachment to these past love objects, usually parents, is caused forward from
the infant years and are toned down or increased during the latency years.
During adolescence, these pre-genital characters combine with the urges that developed in early
childhood.
Psychosexual stages of personality development. These are:
1. Oral stage -0 – 18months
2. Anal stage – 18months – 3yrs
3. Phallic stage – 3yrs – 6yrs
4. Latency stage – 6 yrs to puberty
5. Genital stage – adolescent and adulthood.
The genital stage which is the fifth and final Freudian stage of development, occurring from
puberty on, is a time of sexual reawakening; the source of sexual pleasure.
New love becomes someone outside the family that unresolved conflicts with parent re-emerge
during adolescent. When these are resolved, the individual is capable of developing a mature
love relationship and function independently as an adult.
b). ERIKSON'S THEORY
Erik Erikson (1902-1994) recognized Freud's contributions but believed that Freud misjudged
some important dimensions of human development. For one thing, Erikson (1968) said we
develop in psychosocial stages, in contrast to Freud's psycho-sexual stages. For another, Erikson
emphasizes developmental changes throughout the human lifespan.
Trust versus mistrust is - Erikson's first psychosocial stage, which is experienced in the first
year of life. A sense of trust requires a feeling of physical comfort and a minimal amount of fear
and apprehension about the future.
Autonomy versus shame and doubt - is Erikson's second stage of development, occurring in late
infancy and toddlerhood (ages 1-3). After gaining trust in their care-givers, infants begin to
discover that their behavior is their own. They start to assert their sense of independence or
autonomy.
Initiative versus guilt - is Erikson's third stage of development, occurring during the pre-school
years. As pre-school children encounter a widening social world, they are challenged more than
when they were infants. Active, purposeful behavior is needed to cope with these challenges.
Industry versus inferiority- is Erikson's fourth developmental stage, occurring approximately
in the elementary school years Children's initiative brings them in contact with a wealth of new
experiences. As they move into middle and late childhood, they direct their energy toward
mastering knowledge and intellectual skills.
Identity versus identity confusion - is Erikson's fifth developmental stage, which individuals
experience during the adolescent years. At this time individuals are faced with finding out what they
are all about, and where they are going in life. Adolescents are confronted with many new roles and
adult statuses – vocational and romantic, for example. Parents need to allow adolescents to
explore many different roles and different paths within a particular role. If the adolescent explores
such roles in a healthy manner and arrives at a positive path to follow in life, then a positive
identity will be achieved. If an identity is pushed on the adolescent by parents, if the adolescent
does not adequately explore many roles, and if a positive future path is not defined, then
identity confusion reigns.
Intimacy versus isolation - is Erikson’s sixth developmental stage, which individuals experience
during the early adulthood years. At this time, individuals face the developmental task of forming
intimate relationships with others.
Generativity versus stagnation - is Erikson’s seventh developmental stage, which individuals
experience during middle adulthood. A chief concern is to assist the younger generation in
developing and leading useful lives - this is what Erikson meant by generativity. The feeling of
having done to help the next generation is stagnation.
Integrity versus despair - is Erikson’s eighth and final developmental stage, which individuals
experience during late adulthood. In our later years, we look back and evaluate what we have done
with our lives.
c). COGNITIVE THEORIES
Whereas psychoanalytic theories stress the importance of adolescents' unconscious thoughts,
cognitive theories emphasize their conscious thoughts. Three important cognitive theories are
Piaget's theory, Vygotsky's theory, and Information-processing theory.
Piaget's Theory
The famous Swiss psychologist lean Piaget (1896-1980) stressed that adolescents actively
construct their own cognitive worlds; information is not just poured into their minds from the
environment. Piaget (1954) emphasized that adolescents adapt their thinking to include new
ideas because additional information furthers understanding.
Piaget also believed that that we go through four stages in understanding the world. Each of
the stages is age-related and consists of distinct ways of thinking. Remember, it is the different
way of understanding the world that makes one stage more advanced than another; knowing
more information does not make the child's thinking more advanced in the Piagetian view. This
is what Piaget meant when he said the child’s cognition is qualitatively different in one stage
compared to another.
The sensorimotor stage- which lasts from birth to about 2 years of age, is the first Piagetian stage.
In this stage, infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences
(such as seeing and hearing) with physical, motoric actions - hence the term sensorimotor.
The preoperational stage, which lasts approximately from 2 to 7 years of age, is the second
Piagetian stage. In this stage, children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings.
Symbolic thought goes beyond simple connections of sensory information and physical action.
The concrete operational stage, which lasts from approximately 7 to 11 years of age, is the third
Piagetian stage. In this stage, children can perform operations, and logical reasoning replaces intuitive
thought as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples. For instance,
concrete operational thinkers cannot imagine the steps necessary to complete an algebraic
equation, which is too abstract for thinking at this stage of development.
The formal operational stage, which appears between the ages of 11 and 15, is the fourth and
final Piagetian stage. In this stage, individuals move beyond concrete experiences and think in abstract
and more logical terms. As part of thinking more abstractly, adolescents develop images of ideal
circumstances. Adolescents developing power of thoughts opens up new cognitive and social
horizons. Adolescents, unlike children are no longer limited to actual, concrete experiences as
anchors for thought. They can conjure up make-believe situations- events that are purely
hypothetical possibilities or abstract propositions- and try to reason logically about them.
The abstract quality of the adolescent’s thought at the formal operational level is evident in the
adolescent verbal problem solving ability.
Another indication of the abstract quality of adolescent’s thought is their increased tendency to
think about thought itself. Accompanying the abstract nature of formal operational in adolescence
is thought full of idealism and possibilities. While children frequently think in concrete ways, or in
terms of what is real and limited, adolescents begin to in extended speculation about ideal
characteristics – qualities they desire in themselves and others. Such thoughts lead adolescents to
compare themselves and others in regard to such ideal standards. And during adolescence, the
thoughts of individuals are often fantasy flights into future possibilities.. it is not unusual for the
adolescent to became impatient with the new found ideal standards and become perplexed over
which of many ideal standards to adopt.
At the same time adolescents think more abstractly and idealistically, they also think more
logically. They begin to think more like a scientist thinks, devising plans to solve problems
systematically testing solutions this type of problem solving has an imposing name:
Hypothetical - deductive - reasoning.
Piaget stressed that adolescents are motivated to understand their world because doing so is
biologically adaptive that adolescents actively construct their own cognitive worlds. To make
sense of their worlds, adolescents organize their experiences. They separate important ideas
from less important ones. They connect one idea to another they not only organize their
observations and experiences, they also adapt their thinking to include new ideas because
additional information furthers understanding.
In actively constructing their world, adolescents use schemas. A schema is a concept or
framework that exists in an individual’s mind to organize and interpret information. Piaget said
that two processes are responsible for how children and adolescents use and adapt their
schemas: assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation occurs when individuals incorporate new information into existing knowledge.
Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust to new information.
Equilibration is a mechanism in Piaget’s theory that explains how children or adolescents shift
from one state of thought to the next. The shift occurs as they experience cognitive conflict or
disequilibrium in trying to understand the world. Eventually, the child or adolescent resolves the
conflict and reaches a balance, or equilibrium of thought.
ECOLOGICAL THEORY- URIE BRONFENBRENNER
Has proposed a strong environmental view of children’s development. It consists of 5
environmental systems, ranging from the fine-grained inputs of direct interactions with social
agents to the broad-based inputs of culture. The five systems in the theory are;
1) The microsystem
Is the setting in which an individual lives. This context includes the person’s family, peers,
school and neighbourhood. It is in the microsystem that most of the interactions with social
agents take place- with parents, peers and teachers for example. The individual is viewed not as a
passive recipient of experiences in these settings, but as someone who helps construct the
settings.
2) The Mesosystem
Involves connections between microsystems/ contexts. Examples are relations of family
experiences to peer experiences. For instance, adolescents whose parents have rejected them may
have difficulty developing positive relations with teachers.
3) The exosystem
A situation when experiences in another social setting in which the individual does not have an
active role, influence what the individual experiences in an immediate context. For example,
work experiences might affect a woman’s relationship with her husband and their adolescent.
The woman might receive a promotion that requires more travel, which might increase marital
conflict and change patterns of parent-adolescent interaction.
4) The macrosystem
Involves the culture in which an individual lives. Cross cultural studies provide information
about the generality of adolescent development.
5) The Chronosystem
Involves the patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course and socio-
historical circumstances. For example, in studying the effects of divorce on children, researchers
have found that the negative effects often peak in the first year after the divorce and that the
effects are more negative for sons than for daughters
NB
Bronfenbrenner later added biological influences to his theory and now describes it as a
biological theory.
