Download Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

Adolescence and
Emerging Adulthood
“What is Adolescence?”
(write your answer now…)
Adolescence is….
…The period
after puberty
begins and
before adult
roles are
taken on…
…culturally
constructed
…a fairly new term,
coming into common
usage in the early 20th
Century
Adolescere – to grow into maturity (Latin)
Themes of the Book
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Cultural Contrasts
Historical Contrasts
Interdisciplinary Approach
Gender Issues
Globalization
Adolescence: A Cultural Construct
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Most cultures recognize
“adolescence” as a life period
The length, content and daily
experience differs across cultures
Different cultures define adult status,
roles and responsibilities differently
“The Age of Adolescence”: 1890-1920
Contributing Factors:
1. Legislation prohibiting
child labour
2. Compulsory education
3. Adolescence as a distinct
field of scholarship
G. Stanley Hall: Key Ideas
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Child Study Movement – research to
better the lives of children and
adolescents
Storm and Stress – upheaval and
disorder is a normal part of
adolescent development
The Storm and Stress Debate
“to be normal during the
adolescent period is by itself
abnormal”
-- Anna Freud (1958)
What evidence would Hall find
today to support the “storm
and stress” belief?
Survey in triads…
Arnett’s “Emerging Adulthood” (18-25)
is the age of…
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Identity
explorations
Instability
Self-focus
Feeling inbetween
Possibilities
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2003
“Do you feel that you’ve reached
adulthood?” (homework)
The American Transition to
Adulthood:
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Legally an adult at age 18
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Characterized by Individualism:
• Accepting responsibility for oneself
• Making independent decisions
• Becoming financially independent
Research Methods
•How do current researchers in adolescent
development work?
–Much more contextual (e.g., looking at
development in context of family, peers, work, etc.)
–Much more focused on normative development
and examining developmental assets
–More focus on diversity
Research Methods
Type of Data
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Strategies
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Applications
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Drawbacks
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Benefits
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Quantitative
Questionnaires
Experiments
Large scale surveys
Restrictive in terms of
responses
Yields large-scale,
comprehensive data
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Qualitative
Interviews
Case studies
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Adolescents and emerging
adults describe their own
experiences in their own
words
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Coding and categorizing is
time-consuming
More subjective
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Richness and complexity
Examples of Research Methods
Method
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Ethnography
Biological
Measurement
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Description
Participant
observation
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Measurement of
biological factors
(e.g., timing of
puberty)
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Experimental Treatment and
Research
control (nontreatment) groups
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Daily Records
Participants wear
beepers and record
their experiences at
intervals
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Example
Mead in Samoa
Harvard Adolescence
Project
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Tanner (timing and
sequence of pubertal
change)
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Research on media use
(p. 24)
Testing anti-smoking
interventions
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Experience Sampling
Method – Beeper studies
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