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ADOLESCENT IN
SOCIETY
CHAPTER 6
OH ADOLESCENCE
 The life stage of adolescence – from about age 12 to
19 – can be a difficult one. Teenagers face an
increasing number of decisions, responsbilities, and
pressures. In 1999 nearly 50% of high school seniors
smoked weed, and almost 65% smoked cigarettes.
About 1/3 of teens have sex by 15. Adolescence can
be a dangerous period as well, with accidents,
homicide, and suicide being the top 3 killers of
teens. Sociologists study a number of issues related
to adolescence, ranging from the social causes of
teen drug use to dating behaviors among teens.
CRITICAL THINKING
What do you think are some important issues
related to adolescence that sociologists
should study?
Why do you think so many adolescence do
drugs, smoke cigarettes, and have sex at such
an early age?
Do you think society has always been this
way? Has it changed recently? Or are we more
aware now because of how quickly news
diffuses?
6.1 ADOLESCENCE IN OUR SOCIET Y
 No longer children…not quite adults
 Adolescence: period between normal onset of puberty and
the beginning of adulthood
 Puberty: physical maturing
that makes an individual
capable of sexual reproduction
 Adolescence does not exist
as a concept in many parts of
the world
 Puberty does
CONCEPT OF ADOLESCENCE
 Beginning and end dates are blurred
 Puberty Rites
 Strength, endurance, tattooing or scarring
 Prior to Civil War, adolescence does not exist
 Small adults
 3 factors to the development of adolescence
 1. Education
 2. Exclusion from workforce
 3. Juvenile-justice system
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENCE
BIOLOGICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
 Puberty is biological not cultural
 Growth spurts/weight changes
 Sexual characteristics
 Complexion problems
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENCE
UNDEFINED STATUS
 Children and adults have clear expectations
 Adolescence remains unclear
 16 to marry (parental consent
 18 to vote/fight
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENCE
INCREASED DECISION MAKING
 Prior to adolescence most
decisions are made for you
 Adolescence = many decisions
 Courses, sports, clubs,
college/career,?
 Some decisions are of little long term importance
 Some are very significant
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENCE
INCREASED PRESSURE
 Parental pressure
 School, sports, socially,
career
 School pressure
 Assignments, attendance,
extracurriculars
 Peer pressure
 “In group”
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENCE
SEARCH FOR SELF
 When people know who they are, what they want out
of life, and which values will serve them best…they
are in a better position to make the most of
adulthood.
 Anticipatory socialization: learning the rights,
obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare for
assuming that role in the future
 Playing house
 Part time job, club membership, and dating
GO TO BED. SERIOUSLY, BUT NOT NOW
YOU NEED MORE SLEEP THAN
BABIES
ADOLESCENTS REQUIRE ROUGHLY 9
HOURS AND 15 MINUTES OF SLEEP A
NIGHT
NOTHING “COOL” IS GOING ON
WEDNESDAY MORNING AT 12:17 AM
SO GO TO BED
GET YOUR TIMELINE ON
 BREAK INTO GROUPS OF NO MORE THAN 4 PEOPLE
 YOUR JOBS ARE TO USE THE SOCIOLOGY BOOK I GIVE
YOU, ALONG WITH THE COMPUTER TO MAKE A TIME
LINE OF DATING AMONGST YOUTH STARTING AT THE
INDUSTRIAL EVOLUTION TO PRESENT DAY
 YOU ARE TO INCLUDE:
 ALL VOCAB WORDS: dating, courtship, homogamy,
courtship buggy
 DATING PATTERNS
 DATING NORMS/ACTIVITIES/TRADITIONS/UNIQUE THINGS
 EXPLAIN WHY PEOPLE DATE
COURTSHIP AND DATING
 Before dating, interaction was through:
 Courtship: express purpose is eventual marriage
 Dating can lead to marriage but casually for
entertainment and amusement
 Courtship much more strict than dating
 Between steady dating and engagement
 Young man asked permission, marriage was the
intent, under close supervision, rarely left alone
EMERGENCE OF DATING
CAUSE
EFFECT
INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
People moved from farms to the cities, where young adults could
gain more economic freedom and their own homes. As a result,
parental control over young adults and courtship decreased.
PUBLIC
EDUCATION
By the 1900s most secondary-school students attended
coeducational public schools, which increased interaction
between boys and girls.
AUTOMOBILE
Young adults had more freedom of movement away from parents.
TELEPHONE
Young adults could more easily talk to members of the opposite
sex.
EQUALITY OF
WOMEN
More women entered the workforce and took on more active
community roles, which increased the interaction between single
adult men and women.
GIMME YO DIGITS
WHY DATE?
 Entertainment/fun
 Socialization: learn about opposite sex
 Fulfills psychological needs:
 Conversation, companionship, & understanding
 Attain status: judged by those we date
 Outta your league gives you the bump
 Spouse selection
DATING PATTERNS
TRADITIONAL
 Pre 1960’s
 Arranging the date = man
 Selecting time, place, activity = man
 Paying for expenses = man
 Date night
 Going steady: class ring, letterman, ID bracelet
DATING PATTERNS
CONTEMPORARY
 Aren’t as many set stages of dating
 Equality in dating
 Women
 Women
 Women
 Women
now as men
pay for men or pay for themselves
being the romantic ones; gifts
listening to men’s needs
RIDDLE ME THIS
What are some benefits/drawbacks to teen
dating?
What can be learned from teen dating? If
anything?
Do males and females view dating differently?
If so, how?
As a teen, what do you want to get out of
dating?
6.3 CHALLENGES OF ADOLESCENCE
 New challenges exist that
didn’t in childhood
 Carving out your ID, future
planning, independence,
developing close relationships
 Life can seem overwhelming
 1980’s and 90’s research
began to focus on the
adolescent stage of
development
 Problems teens face: sex, drugs,
and suicide
TEENAGE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
 Sex behavior varies from
society to society
 Some preindustrial societies
permit sexual behavior
 Trobrianders actually encourage
it; prep for marriage
 Western societies (U.S.) strict
norms against premarital
sexuality.
 Outgrown from Puritan &
Victorian views
SEXUAL REVOLUTION
 1960’s and 1970’s
 Birth Control
 Youth counterculture
 Feminist movement
 Human sexuality openly discussed
and explored
 98% of TV programs have sexual
reference
 Physical intimacy found in almost every
movie without “G”
 Advertising
 Resulting, current teen sexual activity
RATE OF TEEN SEXUAL ACTIVIT Y
 1970:
 1995:
 1970:
 1996:
29% unmarried females 15-19 were active
50%
22 births per 1,000 unmarried teen females
43
 Recent numbers show drops since the mid 90’s
 Encouragement of abstinence or birth control
 Some success: teen sex V, teen BC ^, teen pregnancy V
INFLUENCES ON EARLY SEXUAL ACTIVIT Y
 Explanations for early sexual activity: social and
economic factors
 Family income level
 Parents’ marital status, and religious participation
 Two parent/higher income= lower sexual activity
 Teens who practice their religion= lower sexual act.
 Friends influence friends activity
 Risk-taking behaviors; drugs/sex
CONSEQUENCES OF EARLY SEXUAL
ACTIVIT Y
 Often negative consequences
 Less than 1/3 teen girls use BC
 ~1M girls become pregnant every year
 Teen pregnancy has further negative consequences:
 Teen moms w/ low birth weights
 Less likely to finish high school/college
 More likely to experience learning troubles
 Higher risk of becoming teen parents as well
 Emotional stress
 STDs: 4M teens contract each year
TEEN DRUG USE
 Drug: any substance that changes mood, behavior, or
consciousness.
 Drug use 3,000 years ago (Greeks: opium)
 Aztecs: hallucinogens, U.S.: cocaine and heroine until
early 1900’s for nonmedical use
 Drug violence (crack)
 Alcohol, cigarettes, and weed
 Why use?
 Attitude towards drug use?
TEEN SUICIDE
 Youth suicide occurs every 2 hours, 12 a day, 84 a
week, over 4,000 a year
 3 rd cause of death age 15-24 behind accident and
homicide
 4 th among 10-14 y.o.
 ’99: HS 8% said they attempted, 20% seriously
thought and 14% had made a plan
 Suicide is twice as high in ages 75 -84
TEEN SUICIDE
 Durkheim: most comprehensive study to date
 Why some groups w/in society have higher rates…
 Social integration: degree of attachment people have
to social groups or to society as a whole
 High levels: putting group needs above yours
 Low levels: rapid social change, moving, change in econ.
 Teens focus on the present more than future