Download What are the root causes of antisocial behavior and juvenile

DEVELOPMENTAL
PSYCHOLOGY
Lucy Capuano Brewer, Psychology
Psych 05 – Chapter 12
Psychosocial Development
Adolescence
Guideposts for Study
How do adolescents form an identity, and
what roles do gender and ethnicity play?
What determines sexual orientation, what
sexual practices are common among
adolescents, and what leads some to
engage in risky sexual behavior?
How do adolescents relate to parents,
siblings, and peers?
What are the root causes of antisocial
behavior and juvenile delinquency, and
what can be done to reduce these risks of
adolescence?
The Search for Identity
 Erikson:
Identity
Identity Confusion
versus
 Marcia’s Identity Status—Crisis
and Commitment
Erikson’s:
Identity vs. Role Confusion
(12 – late teens/early 20’s
The primary task of this stage is to answer the
question “Who am I?”
The identity crisis is seldom fully resolved in
adolescence; issues concerning identity may
crop up again and again throughout adult life.
Teens form their identity by modifying and
synthesizing earlier identifications into a new
psychological structure, greater than the sum of
its parts.
The adolescent must develop a consistent
identity form their own self-perception and their
relationship with others.
Identity forms as young people resolve three
major issues:
1. choice of an occupation,
2. the adoption of values to believe in and live by,
3. development of a satisfying sexual identity.
Virtue  fidelity:
Sustained loyalty, faith, or a sense of
belonging to a loved one or to friends and
companions.
Fidelity can also mean identification with a set
of values, an ideology, a religion, a political
movement, a creative pursuit, or an ethnic
group.
Fidelity is an extension of trust:
in infancy it is important to trust parents, in the
teenage years, it becomes important to be
trustworthy of oneself.
Those that do not develop an “identity”,
sense of self,
become confused and
directionless.
Identity Status: Crisis and Commitment
(James Marcia)
Developed a four state of ego development or identity
statuses model, related to particular types of
personalities.
They differ according to the presence or absence of
crisis:
CRISIS: period of conscious decision making
COMMITMENT: personal investment in an
occupation or system of beliefs – ideology.
IDENTITIY ACHIEVEMENT:
Crisis leading to commitment  has made choices
and exhibits strong commitment towards them:
wants to be an M.D., done the research as to which
schools are the best.
FORECLOSURE: commitment without crisis.
Commitments are the result of accepting someone
else’s plans for their life, without reaching a crisis.
Teen will go into the family business once they
graduate from high school. Large numbers of minority
teenagers are in foreclosure.
MORATORIUM:
Crisis with no commitment yet.
Should I join the army, or should I work, or go to
the community college, not decided quite yet.
IDENTITY DIFFUSION:
no commitment, no crisis; become aimless with no
goals in mind, tend to be unhappy, lonely and also
tend to have superficial relationships.
Not sure what to do, go from job to job (low pay)
until something better comes around.
Adolescents in Trouble: Antisocial
Behavior and Juvenile Delinquency
What are the root causes of antisocial behavior
and juvenile delinquency, and what can be
done to reduce these and other risks of
adolescence?
Copyright (c) 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Conduct Disorder
Studies indicate that conduct disorders are the largest
single group of psychiatric illnesses in adolescents.
Because the symptoms are closely tied to socially
unacceptable, violent or criminal behavior, many people
confuse the illnesses in this diagnostic category with
either juvenile delinquency or the turmoil of the teen
years.
Children who have demonstrated at least three of the
following behaviors over six months should be
evaluated for possible conduct disorder:
1. Steals--without confrontation as in forgery, and/or
by using physical force as in muggings, armed
robbery, purse-snatching or extortion.
2. Consistently lies other than to avoid physical or
sexual abuse.
3. Deliberately sets fires.
4. Is often truant from school or, for older patients, is
absent from work.
5. Has broken into someone's home, office or car.
6. Deliberately destroys the property of others.
7. Has been physically cruel to animals and/or to humans.
8. Has forced someone into sexual activity with him or her.
9. Has used a weapon in more than one fight.
10. Often starts fights.
Researchers have not yet discovered what causes conduct
disorders, but they continue to investigate several
psychological, sociological and biological theories.
Psychological and psychoanalytical theories suggest that
aggressive, antisocial behavior is a defense against
anxiety, an attempt to recapture the mother-infant
relationship, the result of maternal deprivation, or a failure
to internalize controls.
Sociological theories suggest that conduct disorders result
from a child's attempt to cope with a hostile environment, to
get material goods that come with living in an affluent
society, or to gain social status among friends. Other
sociologists say inconsistent parenting contributes to the
development of the disorders.
Finally, biological theories point to a number of studies that
indicate youngsters could inherit a vulnerability to the
disorders. Children of criminal or antisocial parents tend to
develop the same problems. Moreover, because so many
more boys than girls develop the disorder, some think male
hormones may play a role.
Still other biological researchers think a problem in the
central nervous system could contribute to the erratic and
antisocial behavior.
None of these theories can fully explain why conduct
disorders develop.
Most likely, an inherited predisposition and environmental
and parenting influences all play a part in the illness.
do not go away
without intervention, appropriate treatment is
Because conduct disorders
essential.
Aimed at helping young people realize and understand the
effect their behavior has on others, these treatments
include behavior therapy and psychotherapy, in either
individual and/or group sessions.
Some youngsters suffer from depression or attentiondeficit disorder as well as conduct disorder. For these
children, use of medications as well as psychotherapy has
helped lessen the symptoms of conduct disorder.
Relationships with Family,
Peers, and Adult Society
Is Adolescent Rebellion a Myth?
Changing Time Use and Changing
Relationships
Copyright (c) 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Relationships with Family,
Peers, and Adult Society
Adolescents and Parents
Conversation, Autonomy, and
Conflict
Parenting Styles
Family Structure and Mothers’
Employment
Economic Stress
Copyright (c) 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Relationships with Family,
Peers, and Adult Society
Adolescents and Siblings
Adolescents and Peers
Popularity
Friendships
Copyright (c) 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sexuality
What
determines
orientation?
sexual
sexual orientation:
Focus of consistent sexual, romantic,
and affectionate interest, either
heterosexual,
homosexual,
or
bisexual
Sexuality
Sexual Behavior
Heterosexual Activity
Homosexual Identity and Behavior
Sexual Risk Taking
Early Sexual Activity
Contraceptive Use
Where Do Teenagers Get Information
about Sex?