The Adolescent in Society

Chapter 6 Sociology

Adolescence

Adolescence -period between puberty and the beginning of adulthood.

Puberty is the physical maturing that makes an individual capable of sexual reproduction.

Adolescence is not a life stage that exists in all societies.

It has developed as a result of modern industrial society.

American society adolescence occurs between ages 12 to 19.

In preindustrial societies people go directly from childhood to adulthood through a formal ceremony known as puberty rites.

These rites usually take place between 13 to 14 years old and differ from society to society.

Puberty rites make individuals adults.

The development of adolescence

• • • In the US, adolescence did not exist before the Civil War.

The development of adolescence has become recognized only in the past century with the development of industrialized nations.

Major factors include: Education, child labor laws and juvenile-justice system.

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How has education affected the development (and extension) of adolescence?

State laws make education mandatory till the age of 16, and most people stay in school till 18, those in college till early to mid 20s.

Education extends the period of adolescence because many students depend on other for financial support.

While in school, most students do not take on the roles of adulthood, such as spouse, parent, and provider.

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Child Labor-extension of adolescence

Child-labor laws prevent people from working until the age of 16. (Most adolescence do not work full-time, most work part-time while continuing to go to school).

How does the juvenile-justice system extend adolescence?

• America has made a distinct legal system between juvenile and adult offenders.

Question from page 122: How does the blurring of adolescence and adulthood occur in dress, behavior, and language?

There used to be clear cut role expectations for adults and adolescents….

• • • • • Adults wearing kids clothes Kids wearing adults clothes Adults playing video games Alcoholism and suicide Adults using slang

What confusion may the blurring of the stages bring?

• Any thoughts?

What problems may children playing adult roles bring?

• • • Some childhood specialists say that children taking adult roles my cause them to grow up too fast and miss out on many of the special features adolescence has to offer.

The adult-like child is denied the opportunity try new roles without being judged by adult standards.

Can cause stress for the individual.

Biological Growth and Development

• • • • Puberty-biologically based Changes in body, height, weight Primary and secondary sexual characteristics Acne These changes can sometimes cause anxiety or embarrassment, particularly when an individual is way ahead or behind their cohort.

Undefined Status

• • • • Expectations for children and adults are clear.

Adolescent expectations are vague or undefined.

Example-people can get married at age 16, but can not vote till they are 18.

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Increased Decision Making

• • Children's’ decisions are made for them by adults.

Adolescents have to make decisions – what courses to take, sport to play, clubs to join, career pathway, study or not…?

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Increased Pressure

Balance between parents wishes and peer pressure.

Pressure often is created to be a part of an “in” group.

Pressure causing examples-Having a car, fads and fashions, cosmetics, sports equipment, movies, technology, relationships, job, schoolwork, social activities… Advertisements often attempt to increase peer pressure.

The Search for Self

• • • Preparing for future roles is one aspect of finding oneself.

Anticipatory Socialization- learning the rights, obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare for assuming that role in the future.

Part-time jobs, club membership, mentoring, and dating are common forms of anticipatory socialization.

Chapter 6.2: Teenagers and Dating

• • Dating is a relatively recent phenomenon.

It did not emerge as a form of social interaction until after World War I

Courtship and Dating

• • Courtship differs from dating in that courtship’s eventual purpose is marriage.

Dating may lead to marriage, however, its main purpose is entertainment and amusement (in casual stages)

Courtship cont.

• • • • • Courtship was not casual and the roles were strictly defined.

Usually conducted in the parlor of a women’s home under strict supervision.

Young people did not have fun during courtship.

Sole purpose was to find a spouse.

From courtship modern dating emerged.

The Emergence of Dating

• • • During the industrial revolution, many people moved away from farms and into cities.

Young adults became less dependent on parents.

Economic freedom reduced parental control over courtship.

Public Education

• • Beginning in the early 1900s, the majority of secondary students were enrolled in public schools.

This meant that young men and women spent a good portion of their day with one another.

Telephones and Cars

• • • Dating accelerated in the period after World War I.

Young acquired telephones and automobiles.

1920s was a period of greater social freedom for women, which led to greater interaction between men and women.

Waller’s study 1920s-1930s

• • • • • Studied the dating habits of students at PSU.

Concluded that casual dating was a form of entertainment.

Status attainment and excitement were at the core of the dating process.

Partners were chosen based on status, good looks, and popularity.

Dating contrasted with courtship, where dependability and honesty were most valuable.

• • Later research found that character and personality factors are also important.

Homogamy-the tendency of individuals to marry people who have social characteristics similar to their own.

Connecting to Literature

• According the clip from the book Middletown, what positive and negative effects of the car and movies?

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How do technological innovations affect dating?

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Good or bad????

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2.

3.

4.

5.

Five functions of dating

Entertainment-allows young people to have fun.

It is a mechanism for socialization-teaches individual about the opposite sex and how to behave in social situations.

Fulfills certain psychological needs such as conversation, companionship and understanding.

Helps individuals attain status.

In later stages, spouse selection.

Traditional Dating Patterns

• • • • 1940-1950s dating patterns-can be found in small town today.

Arranging the date fell to the man.

He was expected to contact intended partner, suggest time and place for the date, activity, and pay.

If the couple continued to date over a period of time, the male often gave the girls his class ring, or his letter jacket.

Contemporary Dating

• • • • Since the 1960s, dating has not followed such formal patterns.

Both men and women initiate dates.

Acceptable for either party to pay for a date.

Speed dating!

Amish Dating

• • • • Begin dating around 16 years old.

Men receive a courting buggy or horse drawn carriage.

Use courting buggy to attend formal events – picnics, weddings, corn huskings, and barn raisings.

Serious business – selection of a spouse in mind.

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Do you think it is more difficult to be a teenager today than it was 30-50 years ago? Why or why not?

Chapter 6.3 Challenges of Adolescence

• Developmental tasks-carving out an identity, planning for the future, becoming more independent, developing close relationships

Teenage Sexual Behavior

• • Some preindustrial societies permit adolescents to engage in sexual behavior.

Trobrianders of the South Pacific-sexual experimentation is encouraged to get ready for marriage.

Traditional Norms Governing Sexual Behavior in Western Society

• • • Stem from an outgrowth of Puritan and Victorian views on sexual morality.

Sexual activity should be confined to marriage.

Predominant view in American society until the 1960s (of course not always practiced).

Factors for Change: 1960s and 1970s

• • • • Development of the birth control pill.

Youth counterculture Feminist movement Sexual revolution!

Sexual Revolution cont.

• • • As a result, norms began to change.

Sex began to be openly talked about and explored.

Today we see sexual references everywhere from advertising to intimacy in rated G movies.

The Rate of Teenage Sexual Activity

• Center for Disease Control (CDC) has indicated: • 1970: 29% of females between 15-19 were sexually active • 1995: (same cohort) up to 50% • During the 1990s the CDC led a campaign to get teens to abstain, or use birth control.

• Survey conducted showed a decrease in sexual activity, teenage use of birth control increased, and teenage pregnancy fell.

Influences on early sexual activity

• Social – Economic factors: – Family income – Parent marital status – Religious participation • Teenagers from higher-income, two-parent families had lower sexual activity than low income, single parent families.

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Consequences of early sexual activity

Babies born to teenage mothers have lower birth weights and more likely to die within first year.

Teenage mothers are less likely to finish HS Lower education levels = lower lifetime earnings Children of teenage parents are more likely to experience learning problems.

Children have increased likelihood to have children as teens.

Teenage mothers = emotional stress STDs

Teenage Drug Use

• • Drug-any substance that changes mood, behavior, or consciousness.

Medicines, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, heroin.

History of Drug Use

• • • Greeks smoked opium more than 3000 years ago.

Aztecs commonly used hallucinogens.

In the US, cocaine and heroine was used for a wide variety of medicinal purposes until the early 1900s.

Drug Violence

• • In the past 3 decades there has been an increase in drug-related violence (muggings, robberies, violence as a result of turf wars between rival gangs).

Children are often involved as early as age 9 to 10 as hired lookouts, then rise through gang hierarchy.

Rate of teenage drug use

• US has the highest rates of drug use of industrialized societies amongst adolescence.

Influences on drug use

• • • Having friends who regularly engage in drug use.

Social and academic adjustment problems.

Hostile and rejecting family setting.

Attitudes toward drug use

• Negative attitudes towards teen drug use have led to fluctuations in the use of different drugs over the years.

Teenage Suicide

• • Contributing factors include drug and alcohol use.

Suicide rate has more than doubled in the past 3 decades.

Surgeon General (1997) said, “A youth suicide occurs every 2 hours in our country, 12 times a day, 84 times a week, well over 4,000 times a year.” 3 rd leading cause of deaths next to accidents and homicides for 15 to 24 year olds.

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Sociological View of Suicide

Sociologists are interested in the social (as oppose to psychological) factors that affect suicide rates.

Rates can be understood by studying the structure of society and the experiences of the people.

Durkheim study of suicide

• Explained by level of social integration.

Social integration- the degree of people have to social groups or to a society as whole.

attachment

Societies or groups with high and low levels of social integration will have high rates of suicide.

Why? (next slide)

• • High levels of social integration can lead to increased rates of suicide because group members place the needs of the group above their own personal needs.

EXAMPLE: In the Inuit society of Arctic North America, elderly people walked into the snowy wild and die once they become a burden to the group.

• • • • Suicide as a result of low levels of social integration is much more common.

Low levels of social integration occur during period of social disorganization: rapid social change increased geographic mobility War or natural disasters Sudden economic changes

Occurs because the norms that govern behavior weaken, or become less clear.

Social bonds that give individuals group solidarity religion or family ties-weaken during period of social disorganization.

Most commonly found in industrialized societies.

Suicide rates in the world

Rates in Virginia (by region)

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Predictors of Teenage Suicide

Alcohol or drug abuse Triggering events-specific event or anticipation of an event (fear of punishment, loss or rejection by an important person, unwanted pregnancy, family crisis, school performance, fight with friend or parent.

Age-suicide increases with age Sex-Females 3 times more likely to attempt, however, males are more likely to succeed Population density-higher suicide rates in lower populated areas than heavily populated areas.

• • Family relations-more common in families with weak social bonds.

Cluster effect- a suicide event sometime results in other attempts among adolescents in a community.

Teenage suicide rates are influenced by the same sociological factors as adults.

Chief among these factors are social isolation and weakening of social bonds.

If you or anyone that you know is experiencing any of these social factors, there are programs to help

you within society (in school here you may see school psychologist or guidance counselor)