Download Middle Childhood and Adolescence Final Paper

Haley Goranson
Dr. Kelly Welch
FSHS 506
6/29/2015
BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN
The Biological Domain is an area of development for adolescents that involves puberty,
muscular growth, and growth of other systems within the body. The Biological Domain
development can be altered by environmental factors, social factors, and social maturation and
by having an early onset of puberty. The Biological Domain simply deals with biological
growth. The Biological Domain is connected to the Cognitive Domain, because of the biological
growth within the prefrontal cortex. There is much to be understood about the development of
the prefrontal cortex.
The Prefrontal Cortex
Understanding brain development within the prefrontal cortex can help us to have a
better understanding of why things occur during adolescence. The prefrontal cortex is a region
in the brain located right in front. The prefrontal cortex is very important to learn about
because it is responsible for cognitive development that is uniquely human. The prefrontal
cortex can explain a lot about why we do the things that we do. Some of the many
responsibilities that the prefrontal cortex has is thinking, evaluating, judging, reasoning, and
impulse control. The prefrontal cortex has been described as the “judgement center” of the
human body. Why is that important? Well, it is crucial to understand prefrontal cortex
development so that we can understands what is going on in adolescents’ minds and their
behavior. It is fairly a new discovery and many cases involving adolescents of crime are being
overturned because of this new education of the prefrontal cortex. We are realizing that maybe
the adolescent individual is not responsible for their actions, but that they do not have an adult
level of functioning within the prefrontal cortex and in the brain overall.
So why is the prefrontal cortex especially important when it comes to adolescent brain
development and cognitive development? To understand why this region is so important during
pubertal development we have to understand what is occurring during this time in the
adolescent’s brain. During our childhood we are growing more and more brain cells. The brain
cells contain a nucleus, axon and dendrites. The dendrites receive information, and the axons
carry the information away. Axons contain myelin sheath that is a fatty substance that coats the
axon and speeds up the process of delivering information. When you are a child the brains
responsibility is to grow and to start making connections, but during adolescence and pubertal
development the dendrites that receive information begin synaptic pruning or dying off if they
are unused. This sounds like a negative thing, but it is actually good for the adolescent because
the process is making room to make more useful connections. This development is occurring in
the prefrontal cortex during pubertal development, and the process will continue into the 20’s.
This means that adolescents do not have a fully developed prefrontal cortex and that their
“judgement centers” are still growing.
What does this mean for adolescents who have not yet experienced this development?
This means that if the development of the prefrontal cortex is immature it is likely that you will
partake in risky or impulsive behavior. These risky behaviors can often leave to life changing
events such as teen pregnancy, and can affect adulthood. One of the major ways the immature
prefrontal cortex can affect adulthood is addiction, because of drug or alcohol use during
adolescence. The teen with the immature prefrontal cortex is not ready to make adult decisions,
and they may be very impulsive. Yet teens who have experienced this biological developmental
change on time are growing with their cognitive abilities. Timing is very important when it
comes to biological development in adolescents.
Examples from Juno that Demonstrate the Prefrontal Cortex
There are many examples
from the film Juno that demonstrate the development or underdevelopment of the prefrontal
cortex. I will begin with Juno’s use of Adderall and alcohol that she talks about using in the film,
and the fact that she had sex with Bleeker. These are all decisions that Juno made, and they can
be explained by her immature prefrontal cortex. She did not think about the consequences of
her actions. She only thought about the immediate gratification that came with these things. For
example, I assume that when she took Adderall she did not think about the gossip that would be
spread around about her. It is also well known that Juno was in shock when she found out she
was pregnant, as if pregnancy is not what comes from having unprotected sex. It took her several
positive pregnancy tests to convince herself that she was indeed pregnant. She was shocked by
the fact that she was pregnant, and did not think about the consequences of having sex, as many
teenagers don’t.
Another example of Juno’s immature prefrontal cortex is how she would arrive at Mark
and Vanessa’s house unannounced. She did not understand that there are boundaries that exist
within married couples. She assumed that it would be okay for her to drop by, hang out with
Mark, and to even dance with him. She was not capable of reasoning at an adult level, even when
confronted by her step-mom, she couldn’t understand why it was inappropriate to hang out with
a married man alone. Juno’s risky decisions of having sex, using drugs and alcohol, and being an
uninvited guest at Mark and Vanessa’s house are some of the prominent examples within Juno
that demonstrate the prefrontal cortex. However there were many other clues throughout the
entire movie that showed that Juno indeed had the mind of an adolescent, and that she was not
capable of using judgment at an adult level.
Some of these examples that are evident of her immature prefrontal cortex are how she
jokes about the baby, pregnancy, and even suicide. She calls the baby a “thing” and is seen
playing or goofing around with her friend when she is in labor. She makes a noose out of
twizzlers to joke about killing herself. Throughout the movie her diet consists of junk food and
blue slushees. She even dumps her slushee out of anger into her step-mom’s vase for immediate
gratification. She chooses to copy homework from her friends often, and believes that she is in
love with a teenage boy. She immediately chooses abortion as her first response to her
pregnancy, and when she cannot handle doing it emotionally she quickly decides to give the
baby up for adoption and she finds a couple from an ad in the Penny Savers. These decisions that
she makes are often not premeditated. Juno doesn’t usually consider the consequences in a
realistic manner, like many adolescents in our society today.
COGNITIVE DOMAIN
The Cognitive Domain is connected to the biological domain because if the prefrontal
cortex is underdeveloped than cognition is still developing as well. The cognitive domain deals
with formal operational thought, or basically reasoning. Adolescents are developing their ability
to think abstractly within the cognitive domain. As the brain is developing adolescents are faced
with rapid cognitive growth.
Formal Operational Thought
Some of the concepts to learn that help to explain adolescent cognitive development is
the fourth stage of Piaget’s cognitive development, schemes, and culture and society.
Adolescents are in a very exciting cognitive shift, and this shift can be explained by Piaget’s
stages of cognitive development. According to Piaget there are four stages of cognitive
development, and adolescents are in stage four, which is known as formal operational thought.
Formal operational thought is a stage of cognitive development where adolescents are
becoming capable of reasoning logically with abstract concepts. It is a gradual process that
occurs because of nature and nurture, or because of biology and the environment around the
adolescent. Adolescents are learning to reason logically, this is a very important stage in their
development. An unhealthy environment can have lasting negative effects on the adolescent’s
cognitive abilities. During this stage adolescents are finally able to systematically problem solve
and think about the different outcomes in situations. They are learning to be able to reverse the
situation to think of different outcomes using the process of irreversibility. This is exciting, but
can also be confusing or overwhelming.
To understand how adolescents are learning or developing cognitively we must
understand how they see the world. Adolescents view the world using lenses called schemes.
Schemes are mental categories that we organize concepts or ideas into. Different people have
different schemes, or different perspectives they use to view the world or their experiences. As I
mentioned, the environment affects an adolescent’s growth, so it is important to know that
society is often shaping adolescents’ schemes. This is important to remember because there are
many negative messages within our society that shape adolescents’ schemes for life.
There are two ways that schemes are formed, through the processes of assimilation and
accommodation. Assimilation is the way that we understand a new experience based on our
level of cognitive development, and accommodation is when we change a way of thinking of
scheme as a result from a new experience. A simple way to remember it is that assimilation is a
completely new scheme, and accommodation is the changing of an existing scheme. During
this stage adolescents are accommodating and assimilating new information all of the time. All
of the adolescents’ experiences are being used to process schemes, which could be used for a
lifetime. This is why it is crucial to consider all of the conflicting messages that adolescents are
receiving on a daily basis. For example if an adolescent is exposed to images of people smoking
cigarettes that they perceive as fashionable people, or good looking people, they may assimilate
or accommodate these images, and create a scheme that smoking cigarettes is cool.
Logical thinking is improving dramatically during the formal operation stage, which
brings us to hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Hypothetico-deductive reasoning is the ability to
come up with different outcomes to different scenarios or to hypothesize. Hypotheticodeductive reasoning improves for adolescents during the formal operational stage. With
hypothetico-deductive reasoning teenagers are better capable of processing new information
using their encoding abilities. Adolescents are not capable of encoding information selectively,
or capable of remembering specific information. Using hypothetico-deductive reasoning we
can explain many behaviors that adolescents are involved in, and why they do what they do.
Improving reasoning and having this cognitive ability leads adolescents to idealize.
Another concept that falls into formal operational thinking is Idealism. Idealism is when
you believe that negative things won’t happen to you, and if they do the consequences do not
seem to be too bad. Idealism helps us to see why adolescents are making risky decisions. When
you feel invincible, you are more likely going to act like it. Adolescents are becoming better at
thinking of different outcomes or possibilities, which means that they are able to challenge others
and justify their behavior. An example of idealism is when a teenager states that “it won’t
happen to me”. Hypothetico-deductive reasoning is not fully developed in adolescents, and it is
a gradual shift in cognition. Reasoning is still developing for adolescents, which is dangerous
because many adolescents are participating in risky behaviors. For example, maybe an
adolescent watches porn at an early age, he/she may consider some of the degrading or
dangerous acts that occur in porn as reasonable or normal.
A concept that many of us have heard of that falls under Piaget’s fourth stage of
development is egocentrism. Adolescent egocentrism is a form of hypothetico-deductive
reasoning. It is the perspective of the adolescent who believes that they are having unique
experiences, thoughts, beliefs, or feelings. Adolescent cognitive development is a time that
Elkind explains through egocentrism, personal fables, and imaginary audiences, and that has
many implications and consequences. A personal fable could be simply defined as a perceived
destiny. It is this notion that or idea that the script is already laid out for you, and that you’re
destined to turn out in a particular way or experience certain things. For example, a personal
fable that a male adolescent from a traditional patriarchal family may believe that no matter what
his life will follow a sequence of college, marriage, and then 2.5 children. Not taking into
consideration how a negative experience could leave him infertile, or that there could be many
other outcomes in his life. A personal fable is like fate to an adolescent, and it can be positive or
negative.
Another concept that falls within hypothetico-deductive reasoning is imaginary
audience. Imaginary audience is when an adolescent believes that their peers will react in a
dramatic fashion towards them, or when an adolescent holds exaggerated expectations. For
example I just knew when I was in high school that peers in my school were making fun of me
for my chicken legs, even though they never actually did to my knowledge. Imaginary audience
is most likely why adolescents may have a complete melt down if they get acne, especially
before an important event. Egocentric thought results in adolescents’ dramatic and exaggerated
imagined reactions from peers.
When it comes to adolescent cognitive development there are many factors related that
can affect it. Vygotsky reminds us that cognitive development is also shaped by culture, peers,
school, family, and our everyday interactions. The stage of formal operational thinking can be
very difficult for an adolescent with varying implications. It is important to keep in mind that a
teenager may have unrealistic ideas, and that the teenager may have difficulties concentrating
during this cognitive shift. We have to be aware of what they are going through and understand
that while they may be advancing cognitively, they are still not at an adult level of growth. They
still have difficulties controlling impulses and reasoning because their cognitive improvements
are gradual.
Examples from Juno that Illustrate Formal Operation Thought
There are many examples
throughout Juno that show the formal operation thinking that she had. Like Juno’s Biological
Development, her Cognitive Development was also immature. Because of her underdeveloped
brain her cognition and her logic were often flawed. Some of the examples in Juno of formal
operational thought are the idealism within the film, the egocentrism, personal fables, and
imaginary audiences. As I mentioned before Juno was incapable of making decisions and
understanding consequences at an adult level, this could be due to her incapability to use
hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Sometimes she demonstrated that she could be mature and
think of consequences, but more often she couldn’t. Juno was at a cognitive level that many
adolescents today are at.
Some examples of idealism within the film Juno would be first how she couldn’t believe
that she was pregnant. She believed as many adolescents do that it wouldn’t happen to her. She
felt that she was invincible and was not able to use irreversibility, or to think of the different
outcomes that could come from having sex with Bleeker. Juno had a very idealistic lens of Mark
and Vanessa. She felt that they were the “perfect” couple. She believed that they would be the
best parents to her unborn child for reasons that aren’t very reasonable, for ex. Because she felt
that Vanessa was beautiful, she thought that they were wealthy, and she thought of Mark as cool
or “edgy”. When she found out that they were going to get a divorce she was very angry, and
thought that they could just not get divorced and be happy. This is another example of idealism.
She didn’t understand that they couldn’t just stay together and be a happy family. Juno had a
very idealistic point of view when it came to the adoption process overall. She tried to play it
cool the entire time.
Not only was Juno idealistic, but she and her friends were egocentric. Juno believed that
she was unique and that she was having a unique experience. She considered herself and Bleeker
to be outcasts and walked against the crowd. Juno expressed her uniqueness by the way that she
dressed, the language that she used, her sarcastic humor, and the way that she decorated her
room. The egocentrism could be seen of both Juno and Bleeker, Bleeker was egocentric as well
when he told Juno that she was “being really immature” when she was upset that he was going to
prom with another girl. He felt like he was being mistreated, when in reality it is reasonable to
see why Juno would be upset. Juno and Bleeker show many adolescent characteristics such as
egocentrism and by having personal fables.
Juno’s personal fable was that she would have the baby, give it up for adoption and in
her words “it will be like it never happened”. She couldn’t see ahead and picture herself crying in
the hospital bed with her father holding her. She didn’t realize how emotionally difficult it would
be. Bleeker also had a personal fable that he would go to college. He says in the film after Juno
loads his mail box full of tic-tacs that he would be set until college on tic-tacs. Bleeker and Juno
also share a fable that they will be playing music and hanging out together like normal teenagers
after the birth of the baby.
Throughout the film we also see examples of imaginary audience. Juno believes that
people are staring at her or talking behind her back because she is pregnant. She is concerned
more about wearing pregnancy pants because she wants to appear as “cool” to her peers. This
imaginary audience makes Juno feel insecure and she states that she has the “evidence” under
her sweater for people to see. Many of the unreasonable thoughts and fears that Juno has is
related to her immature cognitive development and her immature biological development as
well.
PSYCHOSOCIAL DOMAIN
The Psychosocial Domain involves the development of a personal psychologically. The
development of the “self” or of the identity is within the Psychosocial Domain. The
Psychosocial Domain is so important when understanding adolescents because developing the
sense of “self” is the number one objective during adolescence. The development of the “self”
affects the social life of an adolescent, and it can explain a lot of the behaviors that are seen
within adolescence. The Psychosocial Domain is connected with the Biological Domain,
because if an adolescent is not fully developed biologically, it will affect their psyche. The
Psychosocial Domain is also connected to the Cognitive Domain, because if a teenager is
underdeveloped cognitively, it will encompass into their social life. For example, if they are
incapable of reasoning, they may think that hanging out with 30 year olds is acceptable for their
age. An adolescent’s peers can influence their sense of identity.
Identity Development
Not only are adolescents going through major biological and cognitive shifts, they are
developing an identity or a sense of self. Adolescents are going through a stage of identity
development, and the most important developmental task that adolescents are going through is
to develop a sense of self. I will explain the sense of self using Erikson's stages of identity
formation and identity development through Marcia’s four stages of identity development. I
will follow with why identity development is important and how we can support our
adolescents towards developing healthy identities.
The sense of self is very important because if affects everything that we do. Our sense of
self affects our personalities, self-worth, self-love, self-esteem, and self-image. Our “self”
influences our thoughts and behaviors. Many factors can affect the development of the self, such
as the environment around the adolescent. They way that the adolescent develops the sense of
self now will influence their personality and behavior during adulthood and beyond. There are
different possible selves or different was that an adolescent can view themselves based on their
physical, emotional, social and academic self-concepts. A possible self is basically a way that
the adolescent can view themselves, either in the present moment or in the future. The way that
an adolescent views the self will affect every facet of their life. During this developmental stage
adolescents may begin to compare themselves to others more often. Social comparison is
basically how adolescents judge or view themselves compared to others, or most likely their
peers. Adolescents may compare themselves to peers who are more successful or less successful
than they are, and this process can affect how they view themselves.
As I mentioned self-esteem is crucial when it comes to how adolescents view themselves
and their worth, and ultimate how they behave. Whether the teenager has a healthy self-esteem
of they are self-loathing can affect their entire lifespan. It is essential to note that during
adolescence it is typical that there is a drop in confidence or self-esteem for our youth, but the
self-esteem typically will build up to a healthy level. If an adolescent has a healthy high selfesteem you can expect that they will be participating in less risky behaviors.
There are eight stages of identity development according to Erickson, but the most
important one related to adolescents is the fifth stage. This stage is called the identity-versusidentity-confusion stage. This mostly means that this is the time in our lives that we form our
sense of self or identity. It can be very confusing, trying to figure out who they are or what their
role in life is. Each of Erickson’s stages have a developmental task, and for adolescents that
task is to develop the sense of self. They do this by trying on many different roles. For example,
when I was about 15 years old I wanted to be a skateboarder. I bought a skateboard and tried to
develop the skill. A year later I was wearing pink lip gloss and associating with preppy friends. I
tried on many different “selves” or roles. Many environmental factors can influence this
development, such as peers or peer pressure. Imagine if I would have gotten into the “wrong”
crowd, maybe they could have convinced me that in order to be “cool” I had to party, do drugs,
and have sex. That could have affected my future identity.
Besides Erikson's stages of identity development there are other theories that help to
explain the developmental process of the identity during adolescence. Marcia’s Four Statuses
of Identity helps to explain the process that occurs when we try on a new role. For each role that
we try on we go through a process. These processes are labeled within Marcia’s Four Statuses of
Identity as identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, and identity achievement
in that sequence. This process is two steps when simplified: crisis and then commitment. First
we must make a decision or reexamine a role or belief, and then we must choose to commit or
not to the role or belief. This doesn't seem too difficult, but when you consider that we only try
on one role at a time, and the fact that adolescents usually have more than one role to fill at a
time, it becomes pretty complex. We must ask ourselves, are we doing everything we can to
teach empathy and compassion to our youth during their developmental stage of identity? Are
we teaching worth and supporting the growth of the self and self-esteem?
Morality development is within the realm of the development of the self. There are
many different approaches or theories related to moral development, but more research is still
needed. Each theorist can be criticized or challenged. I will explain the theories of Piaget,
Kohlberg, and Gilligan. I will also explain the social learning perspective and some factors that
can influence moral development. There are different approaches to moral development, but
most theorists agree that there is a fixed sequence or that there are stages of moral development.
I would consider Piaget to be the founding father of moral development, because he
opened the door into researching it. Piaget viewed moral development as a three stages sequence
from the ages of four to ten. He believed that first children view morality as rule based with the
idea that there is only one way to do something, but not capable of understanding the logic
behind the rules quite yet. Secondly, Piaget believed children then would begin to understand
rules a little more, but that they still viewed things as one right way. The third stage of moral
development according to Piaget is that children at about the age of ten are able to understand
rules, and know that rules can be changed. Piaget did open the door into understanding moral
development, but his theory was flawed because he underestimated children's’ abilities. We later
find out that children are capable of moral reasoning sooner than Piaget expected.
Kohlberg had a more complex thinking towards moral reasoning. Kohlberg’s theory has
three sequences, and six stages. The first stage with Kohlberg’s theory is called Preconventional
Morality, and it stresses moral reasoning based on rewards and punishments. There are two
stages within each of the sequences, the first stage within Preconventional Morality is purely
obedience and punishment oriented. An example of this could be that a child won't steal a cookie
from a cookie jar because the think that they will get caught and be in trouble. If they believe that
no one is watching, than maybe they may take one. The second stage is mostly about rewards.
For this stage the individual does positive behaviors because they know there will be positive
outcomes, or they can do negative behaviors because they believe there will be positive
outcomes. For example a kid may steal something because his peer group will celebrate it and
like him more, depending on the child’s social environment and peer group. These first two
stages are what many children are in.
The second sequence in Kohlberg’s theory is Conventional Morality. During the
Conventional Morality sequence the individual begins to act more as a part of society. The first
stage within this sequence is about doing what is expecting and maintaining respect. An example
of this stage could be how many members of collectivist societies may not steal or commit
“immoral” acts according to their society because they do not want to bring shame to their
family. The second stage within the Conventional Morality sequence is more about conforming
to society’s norms. For example maybe the individual won’t commit an “immoral” act because
they will feel guilty for breaking a law or social norm. These two stages within the Conventional
Morality sequence account for the development of the identity or “self”, yet many times people
do not develop their morality any further than these stages.
The third sequence in Kohlberg’s theory is the Postconventional Morality sequence,
and most people in our society do not reach this stage. Within this sequence people are able to
see outside of social norms or expectations. With the first stage in Postconventional Morality
sequence the individual feels obligation to obey, but they know that laws can change. With the
last stage of Postconventional Morality the individual follows laws because they are based on
universal principles, if they believe that a law doesn’t follow universal principles they may break
them. These are individuals who should get together and revise the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, in my opinion.
Morality is hard to define and varies based on opinion, but maybe we can reach a
consensus or what in unacceptable human behavior and figure out a way to enforce these ideas.
Maybe we can find a way to help others reach the higher levels of moral development.
Kohlberg’s sequence of moral reasoning is thorough, but as I mentioned before it is also flawed,
because his theory focused on Western cultures and involves males dominantly.
This is where Gilligan comes in to try and explain the moral development of women.
Gilligan understood how the environment comes in when developing morality, and that boys and
girls are often treated differently. Gilligan’s Three States of Moral Development focuses on
moral development of women or girls, and begins with the first stage that emphasizes moral
development based on survival needs. It focuses on the selfishness involved with these survival
needs, but that girls will gradually begin to be more concerned of others. The second stage is
about self-sacrifice and the girl does consider the needs of others, for example maybe she will
invite a girl that she doesn’t like to her party so that she can be “nice” or “good”. The third stage
is based on nonviolence, and the idea of hurting herself and others becomes immoral. Gilligan’s
theory is also flawed because she focuses on Western Societies and morality, and doesn’t
consider what other cultures may consider moral.
Aside from these three theorists we can learn about morality development from the social
learning perspective. The social learning perspective is basically about how we learn from
modeling others’ behavior. It includes the idea that the environment around an individual
influences their moral development. We learn that many times messages in an individual's
environment, or circumstances in their environment can alter their moral development. We
recognize that there is a difference between reasoning and behavior, and that sometimes although
we know something is not right, we do not act accordingly. We have to consider what we are
teaching our adolescents today about morality, and the messages that they receive on a daily
basis that contradict what we have taught them. We also have to recognize that gender plays a
part in moral development. We learn that boys’ moral development is more justice based and that
girls’ moral development is more compassion based. Culture also plays a part in moral
development because different cultures have different ideas of what is considered normal and
moral.
When it comes to teaching our adolescents morality and empathy parents play a huge
part in how the adolescent develops. It is important to learn about the different ways that parents
teach their children and the outcomes of those parenting styles. I will discuss the four different
types of parenting styles, how a parent can help the adolescent form a healthy sense of self, how
certain parenting styles can negatively affect the adolescent’s sense of self, and how parents can
be helpful in aiding their children in separating from the family of origin. Each parenting style
has different outcomes, but it is safe to say that parents have a very important role, and it is their
job to help their children develop a healthy sense of self or identity.
The four different parenting styles are Authoritarian, Permissive, Authoritative, and
Uninvolved. The Authoritarian parenting style is about control and obedience. Authoritarian
parents are quick to respond to their children’s negative behaviors, and they can be cold or
controlling. Authoritarian parents are strict, and are not usually willing to reason with their
children because they do not allow the child to express their disagreements. The Permissive
parenting style is quite the opposite of the Authoritarian parenting style, and they can be very
relaxed when it comes to responding to their child’s negative behaviors. Permissive parents are
often inconsistent, and do not push their children to exceed because they do not feel very
responsible for how their child turns out. The Authoritative parenting style is the ideal parenting
style, and they are firm yet warm with their children. They can be seen as strict, but they also
reason with their child, and allow them to have a voice. The fourth parenting style is not as well
known, it is the Uninvolved parenting style. This parenting style is almost self-explanatory and
parents do not care what their children are doing. The uninvolved parent is not emotionally
attached to their child, and may appear indifferent. They may provide necessities such as a roof
over their child’s head, but they do not provide emotional support. Uninvolved parents may
neglect their children, and uninvolved parenting is considered the worst parenting style to use.
The different parenting styles have different outcomes that affect their child’s overall
development. Some of the parenting styles that positively affect our adolescents is having opencommunication or allowing your child to reason and express themselves. This occurs with
Authoritative parenting. Children of Authoritative parents are raised with warmth and
boundaries, they aren’t allowed to walk all over their parents and their parents instill confidence
in them by allowing them to speak up. These parents are constantly teaching their children
valuable lessons, and these children usually develop a positive sense of self because of this.
Children of Authoritative parents are also independent because even though they have
boundaries they are able to have experiences and built trust.
There are many ways that parenting styles can negatively affect an adolescent's sense of
self. Authoritarian parents may have children whom are dependent on them because they
haven’t been able to be their own person, or their child may completely rebel. The children may
not feel like they have a voice, and their controlling nature could cause their child to be
depressed or antisocial. Parents who are permissive may also be dependent on their parent, or
have low self-control, because they do not have rules or boundaries. Parents who are uninvolved
may cause their child to feel unloved or unimportant. Their child may feel emotionally detached
because they haven’t been shown warmth and affection. The child from an uninvolved parent has
not been taught many valuable lessons and therefore they may suffer cognitively. Although there
are many negative effects of Permissive, Authoritarian, and Uninvolved parenting there is still
hope, many children end up being successful anyhow, possibly due to resilience.
It is the parent’s role to help their child develop a healthy sense of identity, to grow a
healthy brain, and to provide their child with the necessary tools or skills to make it out in the
“real world”. Some of the ways that parents can aide their children with separating from the
family of origin or becoming an adult, is through reasoning. When parents reason with their
children they are giving them a voice which instills confidence and they are teaching them at the
same time. Making sure that their child has boundaries keeps their children from participating in
risky behaviors that can negatively affect their development. Encouraging their child helps their
child to be successful and independent.
The way that a parent teaches, punishes, and rewards their child is teaching them
something whether they mean to or not. Whether they are sending positive or negative messages
the child will take something away from their experiences. It is important to be knowledgeable
about different ways to parent, and for couples to be on the same page when it comes to
parenting.
Examples from Juno that Exhibit Identity Development
There are many examples within
Juno that demonstrate her development of the “self” or identity. Juno had an egocentric self-
image and felt that she was unique. She was in a cliché of outcasts. Her room, attire, and
language demonstrated her personality as an outcast. It is safe to say that Juno may have been
trying on the role of an outcast, and that her personality was still developing. I make this claim
based on Juno saying that she doesn’t know what kind of girl she is. This showed that she dealt
with identity-confusion.
Influential factors on Juno’s development of identity could be her peers and her social
environment. Juno is in high school, so she is in a social environment that contains gossip and
clichés. In the movie there are several peer groups or clichés, there are jocks, cheerleaders,
outcasts and more. Juno’s best friend Leah probably influenced her personality development as
well, and it is hard to say if Leah is the best example for Juno to be around. Leah was strongly
infatuated with an older teacher, and had an immature prefrontal cortex as well. For all we
know Leah could have influenced Juno’s decision to have sex, and the messages that she
received at school could have also lead her to having sex. Besides Juno’s peers and school, her
parents were a strong influence on her personality and development of identity.
Juno’s parents were divorced and she lived with her father and her step-mother. She had
felt a sense of abandonment from her mother and may have separation issues. She felt that her
mother had a new family, so that could have negatively impacted her self-esteem and
confidence. It could have influenced Juno’s egocentric beliefs as well. Luckily Juno’s step-mom
and father are very supportive, and appear to have used the Authoritative parenting style.
Although Juno’s parents use the Authoritarian parenting style and they are able to have
open dialogue with Juno, they still sometimes negatively affect Juno’s development of
autonomy by taking over and making decisions for her. Juno’s step mom is quick to get her on
prenatal vitamins and take her to doctor appointments. She is also quick to defend Juno at the
Dr.’s office. These interferences can negatively impact Juno separation from her family of
origin. It may be difficult for her to leave the home, and she may feel dependent upon them.
Although her parents do take over often, Juno seems to be self-governing and decides to drive to
Mark and Vanessa’s house without permission on several occasions. Although Juno is not
finished developing, there are many instances where she does show moral advancement. When
she chooses to give the baby up for adoption and she follows through with it, this could be an
example of advanced moral development. Many teenagers today do not have the courage to
place their child up for adoption, or they think that it is reasonable to raise the child themselves.
Juno is like many teenagers and in her own words she admitted that she was “not equipped” to
raise a baby, and she was capable of understanding that she was not ready to care for a baby.
Dear Haley,
Due to the dramatic increase in academic dishonesty and plagiarism, I no
longer return research papers. I do, however, provide feedback. The feedback
for your FSHS 506 Juno paper is contained within this email.
FEEDBACK
**Your discussion is very well organized--you do a nice job delineating key terms
and concepts by using bold font, and the paper flows well from section to section
(very difficult to do in a paper of this nature).
**You do a very nice job with your discussion about each of the key concepts
learned this semester, both from the book and the lectures.
**Your Psychosocial realm and your Biological realm discussions are really very
well done. These are probably the most difficult examples to pick up on in the
movie, but you do a great job.
**You have a strong number of examples to support your theory. Well
done!!
**You also have a very strong ability to synthesize (weave together) the
theoretical concepts with examples from "real life." This is a very difficult task,
and requires almost an intuitive feel for the subject matter. You do it with much
skill. OUTSTANDING.
Again, this is an excellent semester term paper that addresses the 3 domains of
adolescent development. You demonstrate well that you have a solid
grasp/understanding of the key content learned this semester.
EXCELLENT WORK!