Download Chapter 6: The Adolescent in Society

Chapter 6:
The Adolescent in Society
Section 1:
Adolescence in Our Society
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You tell me…
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What is your role, where do
you fit?

When does someone
become an adult?
What about in our society
specifically?
The period b/t the normal
onset of puberty and the
beginning of adulthood.
Ages 12-19.
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Adolescence:
Does this exist in all
societies, cultures?
Puberty:

Physical maturing that
makes an individual
capable of sexual
reproduction.
The Concept of Adolescence
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Not everywhere, in some cultures children must
endure a right of passage…. Examples?
Didn’t exist before the Civil War.
These factors are important to the development
of adolescence:
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1.) Education – compulsory laws
2.) Child-labor laws; most states say you can’t work
until..?
3.) Juvenile-justice systems
Why do we have these factors in our society?
5 Characteristics of Adolescence
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5 characteristics that generally apply to
all adolescents:
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1.) Biological growth and development
2.) Undefined status
3.) Increased decision making
4.) Increased pressures
5.) The search for self
5 Characteristics of Adolescence:
Biological Growth and Development
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Puberty – biological universal
What is involved with puberty?
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Boys:
Girls:
Did you know:

Almost all young people develop some form of
acne.
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40% have it so severe, they seek medical treatment
Changes cause embarrassment and anxiety
5 Characteristics of Adolescence:
Undefined Status
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Society’s expectations for children and
adults are clear… not so for teens.
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Sometimes treated like children, sometimes
treated like adults
Ex: can marry, in some states, at 16; but must
be 18 to vote.
People either love adolescent trends or hate
them:

Think your dance, music, fashion sense, TV, etc.
5 Characteristics of Adolescence:
Increased Decision Making
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Parents decide for you as a kid, not as
an adolescent.
What things do you have to decide?
What to wear, make for lunch, clubs to
be in, sports to play, do for college, do
for the rest of your life?
5 Characteristics of Adolescence:
Increased Pressure
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Peer pressure!!!! What is it?
To do what?
From whom?
Businesses advertise to teens a
bunch!

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Can you think of any specifically???
Acceptance, Popularity
5 Characteristics of Adolescence:
The Search for Self
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True or False:
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You are mature enough to think about what you
want out of life.
You can follow your morals and values outside of
school.
You can decide what things are really important to
you.
Anticipatory socialization:

Learning the rights, obligations and expectations of
a role to prepare for assuming that role in the future.
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EX?
Part-time job, club membership and dating – three forms at
this time
Section 2:
Teenagers and Dating
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Social behavior
Not a cultural universal
Dating:
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Sometimes…
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Meeting of people as a romantic
engagement
Commonly found in societies where
individuals are allowed to chose their
own partners
Marriages are arranged by parents or a
match maker
People don’t meet each other until
their wedding day
Purpose of dating:
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Entertainment, fun, casual
Before dating there was…Courtship
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Courtship
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This was the interaction b/t young
men and young women.
Purpose is marriage.
In b/t steady dating and
engagement
Not casual
Roles strictly defined
Boys ask girls parents’ permission
to court her
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His intentions should be
honorable
Usually took place in woman’s
parlor at home under supervision
or in a social group.
The Rise of Dating
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Industrialism helped, how?
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Free public secondary education
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More time together…
World War I brought more phones and cars
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Young adults became less dependent on their parents for their
security.
More freedom!
More equality for women in workplace, thus more interaction
Willard Waller’s American dating patterns study
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Sororities and Fraternities
Be seen with right people, in right car, good looks, nice clothes,
etc….don’t damage your rep
Result:
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Status attainment is
important
Homogamy:
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Tendency for individuals
to marry people who
have social
characteristics similar to
their own.
EX: Dating different in
the South than the
North? In the 50’s than
now?
So, why date?
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It is a form of entertainment
It is a mechanism for socialization
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Helps teach members of the opposite sex how to
behave in social situations.
Fulfills certain basic psychological needs such as
conversation, companionship, and understanding.
Helps individuals attain status.
Spouse selection becomes an important issue.
Activity!!!
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New forms of dating: speed dating, on-line
dating websites.
You are going to put on a dating
commercial!!!
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1-2 minutes in length.
Need a script, at least two actors, must perform
for class (bring props!!!)
You can put on a dating commercial for a
new method of dating, existing method of
dating, or previous method of dating.
Dating Patterns - Traditional
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Man was to arrange the date, suggest a
time and place, select the activity, and pay.
Both parties knew roles; tied to social status.
Wednesdays was the day to arrange
Saturday dates.
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Accepting a date later in the week meant that
the woman was not the man’s first choice.
Go to an activity, movie or game.
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If you don’t interact well, you can focus
elsewhere.
Dating Patterns: Traditional
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Steady dating:
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If they have been
dating a while
Boy could give girl
his class ring or a
letter jacket.
Form of
anticipatory
socialization for
marriage.
Contemporary Dating Patterns
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Since 1960, have not had such formal
dating patterns.
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So much more social interaction
Greater equality in dating:
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Both men and women:
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Initiate dates, pay for dates,
Relationships based on friendships
and the “group”
Amish Dating
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They have no movie theaters, football games, cars, etc.; but
they still date!
Begin to date at age 16.
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Boys receive their own Courting Buggy (horse drawn carriage).
Spend most time together at formal events: weddings,
picnics, barn raisings, etc.
Arrange dates at Sunday Singings
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Men and women sit across from each other, sing and talk,
afterwards, they mingle; and some pair off.
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The men escort the women home on foot or buggy
Steady – date once every one or two weeks
Very discreet, usually only annouce the marriage when they
are about to marry.
Amish do not recognize divorce
Section 3:
Challenges of Adolescence
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Do you think it is different being a
teenager today than it was 30 or 50
years ago, why?
Teenage Sexual Behavior
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Western nations have strict norms against
premarital sexuality.
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From Puritan and Victorian society
Sex should be confined to marriage.
Had a lot of support until?....
The 1960/70’s development of the birth
control pill, a youth counterculture, and
the feminist movement brought the
“Sexual Revolution!”
Times are a-changing…
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The Sexual Revolution brought a lot of
talk…
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Human sexuality was openly discussed
and explored
Sexuality is a feature of American culture
today (on TV, films, etc.)
With all this talk about it, teenagers
started to …. You know….
The Rate of Teenage Sexual Activity
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See Adobe Reader Document
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By 1995, 50% of American females b/t 15-19 are
sexually active.
By 1996, the birthrate for unmarried teens was
43 births per 1,000 unmarried teenage females.
Birthrate among American teens in higher than
other teens in other industrialized areas.
1990’s CDC, launched a huge program to
educate American teens about sex, it worked:
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Number having sex went down, number using birth
control increased, and the teen-pregnancy rate fell!
Influences on early sexual
activity
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Social and economic factors that influence early
sexual activity are:
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Family-income level
Parent’s marital status
Religious participation
Higher-income two-parent families have a lower
rate of sexual activity than teens from lowincome one-parent families.
Also…
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If you have friends who are having sex, you are more
likely to as well.
Consequences of early sexual
activity
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Less than 1/3 of
American teens
who are sexually
active use birth
control methods
regularly.
About 1 million
teens/year become
pregnant.
More consequences:
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Babies born to teen mothers have lower birth weights and are
more likely to die within the first year of life than babies born to
women older than 20.
Teens who become parents are less likely to finish HS and
college.
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Particularly true for teen mom’s
Due in large part to lower level’s of education, individuals who
become parents during adolescence have lower lifetime
earnings than individuals who delay parenthood until later in
life.
Children of teen parents are more likely to experience learning
difficulties than children of older parents.
Children of teen parents have an increased risk of becoming
teen parents themselves.
Teen mothers often face significant emotional stress.
Let’s not forget about the other
stuff….
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Sexual contact exposes teens to STD’s
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Syphilis, gonorrhea, Chlamydia and AIDS
4 million American teens contract an STD/year.
Also, now HPV is becoming a huge concern.
HIV:
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In the late 1990’s AIDS ranked as the 7th leading cause
of death among young people aged 15 to 24
CDC – 50% of new HIV infections occur among people
younger than 25
Teenage
Drug Use
Teenage Drug Use
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Drug:
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Any substance that changes mood,
behavior, or consciousness.
Medicines, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana,
cocaine, heroine, etc.
Greeks smoked opium, Aztecs used
hallucinogens, etc.
In late 1800s cocaine was an ingrediant
in: soft drinks, cough medicine, and nasal
sprays!
Drug Violence
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Rise in drug-related crime during 80s and
90s.
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EX: mugging, robberies, burglaries, drug
trafficking
Mid 1990s – 1,000 drug-related
murders/year in US
Turf wars with gangs
Crack cocaine
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Brought about most teen arrests
1998 – 200,000 juveniles arrested in the US
Teen Drug Use
The Rate of Teenage Drug Use
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Chart from University of Michigan’s Institute for
Social Research.
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Studies drug use of high school seniors since 1975.
Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug
among high school seniors
Ecstasy use has increased, LCD decreased
19% of high school seniors smoke regularly
73% of high school seniors say they have tried
drinking, 50% say they had alcohol as recently as
few weeks before the survey, 33% say they had 5
or more drinks within two weeks of the survey.
Significance of survey
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US has the highest drug use among
adolescents of any industrialized
country.
Survey doesn’t measure 11% of young
Americans who don’t graduate from
high school
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High school dropouts are showed to have
a much higher rate of drug use.
Influences on Teenage Drug
Use
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Why do teens use drugs?
Studies show they are more likely to
use if they…
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Have friends who regularly use drugs
Have social and academic adjustment
problems
Live in a hostile and rejecting family
setting
Teenage Attitudes Towards
Drug Use
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In 2000:
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85% of teens see cocaine use is harmful to
your health
58% see marijuana as harmful to your health
73% see cigarettes as harmful to your health
30% see alcohol as harmful to your health
Teenage Suicide
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The rate of suicide among young people in the
US has more than doubled in the last three
decades
“A youth suicide occurs once every 2 hours in
our country, 12 times a day, 84 times a
week….well over 4,000 times per year.”
Suicide rate for young people exceeds those for
the general population.
3rd only to accidents and homicides as the
leading cause of death among those aged 15 to
24
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4th leading cause in 10-14 year olds
More on Teen suicide
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Studies show that the rate is actually higher than
what is reported
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Many call suicides, an “accident”
4,000/year don’t include accidental drowning, drug
overdoses, etc.
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In 1999, 8% of teens admitted to attempting
suicide; 20% said they seriously considered it
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However, the rate of suicide for those 75-84 is
almost twice as high as the young.
The Sociological View of Suicide:
E’mile Durkheim
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Study, Suicide is still the
most comprehensive
sociological analysis of
suicide to date
Says variations in suicide
rate can be explained by
the level of social
integration in a group of
society
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Social integration – degree
of attachment people have to
social groups or to society as
a whole
Groups with really high
(needs of group before their
own, Artic elderly) or really
low degrees of social
integration (wars, natural
disasters, changes in
economic conditions) will
have high rates of suicide
Sociological View of Suicide
(cont.)
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During times of social disorganization,
suicide rates increase b/c norms that
govern behavior weaken or become
less clear.
Predictors of Teenage Suicide
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Move from child to adult… new
freedoms and restrictions
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Childhood norms don’t apply anymore
Many adult behaviors are inappropriate
Friends/society have more influence
Control of family lessens, teens take
more responsibility for own actions
Continued…
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Teens focus very much on their presence,
don’t realize problems can be solved with
time and patience.
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Ever heard: permanent solution to a temporary
problem
Social isolation and self-doubt…
Important social factors:
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Alcohol and drug use, triggering events, age,
sex, population density, family relations, cluster
effect, etc.
Social factors that can affect
the rates of teen suicide:
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Alcohol and drug use:
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Teens who heavily use
alcohol/drugs have low
levels of self-control
and are easily
frustrated
More likely to act on
impulse
Often use
drugs/alcohol as a
method to commit
suicide
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Triggering events:
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Fear of punishment
Loss of or rejection
by an important
person
Unwanted pregnancy
Family crisis
Poor school
performance
Fight with a friend or
parent
Social factors that can affect
the rates of teen suicide:
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Age:
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Risk increases with
age
Sex:
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Population density:
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Females are three
times more likely to
attempt suicide
Males are more
likely to succeed
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Often chose
weapons
Under-populated
areas have a
higher rate

Fewer areas of
access to social
services
Social factors that can affect
the rates of teen suicide:

Family relations:
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Weakening of
social bonds
increases likelihood
of suicide
Rates are higher in
families with
violence, marital
conflict, recent loss
of a parent, etc.

Cluster effect

One attempt
sometimes causes
others to do the
same
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Especially if it is a
popular member
As many as 200 a
year are the result
of a cluster effect
Problem
Causes
Consequences
Teenage
sexual
behavior
Teenage
drug use
Loosening of norms concerning
sexuality; low-income, one-parent
families.
Teenage pregnancy;
exposure to or acquiring
STD’s such as syphilis or
AIDS.
Dropping out of school; having
friends who use drugs; social and
academic adjustment problems;
hostile and rejecting family settings.
Increase in the use of
some drugs among teens;
increase in drug-related
violence.
Teenage
suicide
Alcohol or drug use; triggering events
such as a family crisis or other trials
of adolescence; being female; social
isolation; living in an under populated
area, bad family environment; cluster
effect from publicized suicides.
Death; possible cluster
effects leading to other
teenage suicides; rise in
US teen suicide rate; teen
suicide rate now exceeds
that for adults.