Literature – Adolescent Development
Preparation Exam 1
Adolescence – Chapter Introduction
The Boundaries of Adolescence
Adolescence: The stage of development that begins with puberty and ends when individuals
make the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about 10 until the early 20s
(definition used in this book).
Adolescence is a period of transitions: biological, psychological, social, economic.
There are a variety of boundaries we might draw between childhood and adolescence, and
between adolescence and adulthood:
Perspective When Adolescence Begins When Adolescence Ends
Biological Onset of puberty Becoming capable of sexual
reproduction
Emotional Beginning of detachment Attainment of separate sense
from parents identity
Cognitive Emergence of more Consolidation of advanced
advanced reasoning abilities reasoning abilities
Interpersonal Beginning of shift in interest Development of capacity for
from parental to peer intimacy with peers
relations
Social Beginning of training for Full attainment of adult
adult work, family, and status and privileges
citizen roles
Educational Entrance into junior high Completion of formal
school schooling
Legal Attainment of juvenile status Attainment of majority
status
Chronological Attainment of designated Attainment of designated
age of adolescence (e.g., 10 age of adulthood (e.g., 21
years) years)
Cultural Entrance into period of Completion of ceremonial
training for ceremonial rite rite of passage
of passage
Determining the beginning and ending of adolescence is more a matter of opinion than of
absolute fact. Rather than argue which boundaries are the correct ones, it makes more sense to
think of development during adolescence as involving a series of transitions from immaturity
into maturity.
Early, Middle, and Late Adolescence
Early adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 10-13, corresponding roughly to the
junior high or middle school years.
,Middle adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 14-17, corresponding to the high
school years.
Late adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 18-21, corresponding approximately to
the college years.
In discussing development during adolescence, we’ll need to be sensitive not only to
differences between adolescence and childhood, or between adolescence and adulthood, but
also to differences among the various phases of adolescence itself. Some writers also have
suggested that a new phase of life, called emerging adulthood, characterizes the early and
mid-20s.
Emerging adulthood: The period spanning roughly ages 18-25, during which individuals
make the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
There is little evidence, however, that this is a universal stage. There are multiple pathways
from adolescence into adulthood.
A Framework for Studying Adolescent Development
The model by John Hill used in this book has three basic components: (1) the fundamental
changes of adolescence, (2) the contexts of adolescence, and (3) the psychosocial
developments of adolescence.
The Fundamental Changes of Adolescence
According to Hill, three features of adolescent development give the period its special flavor
and significance: (1) the onset of puberty (biological), (2) the emergence of more advanced
thinking abilities (cognitive), and (3) the transition into new roles in society (social).
Importantly, these three sets of changes are universal changes; virtually without exception, all
adolescents in every society go through them.
Biological Transitions:
The chief elements of the biological changes of adolescence – which collectively are referred
to as puberty – involve changes in the young person’s physical appearance and the
development of the ability to conceive children.
Puberty: The biological changes of adolescence.
Cognitive Transitions:
The word cognitive refers to the processes that underlie how people think. Compared with
children, adolescents are much better able to think about hypothetical situations and about
abstract concepts.
Social Transitions:
All societies distinguish between individuals who are viewed as children and those who are
seen as ready to become adults. Changes in rights, privileges, and responsibilities constitute
the third set of fundamental changes that occur at adolescence: social changes. In some
cultures, the social changes of adolescence are marked by a formal ceremony – a rite of
passage. In most contemporary industrialized societies, the transition is less clearly marked,
but a change in social status is a universal feature of adolescence.
,Rite of passage: A ceremony or ritual marking an individual’s transition from one social
status to another, especially marking the young person’s transition to adulthood.
The Context of Adolescence
Although all adolescence experience the biological, cognitive, and social transitions of the
period, the effects of these changes are not uniform for all young people. The psychological
impact of the biological, cognitive, and social changes of adolescence is shaped by the
environment in which the changes take place. In other words, psychological development
during adolescence is a product of the interplay between a set of three very basic, universal
changes and the context in which these changes are experienced. For this reason, the second
component of our framework is the context of adolescence. According to the ecological
perspective on human development, whose main proponent was Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979),
we cannot understand development without examining the environment in which it occurs. In
modern society, there are four main contexts in which young people spend time: families,
peer groups, schools, and work and leisure settings.
Ecological perspective on human development: A perspective on development that
emphasizes the broader context in which development occurs.
Of course, these settings themselves are located within neighborhood, which influence how
they are structured and what takes place in them. and the community in which these settings
are located is itself embedded in a broader context that is shaped by culture, geography, and
history.
Families:
Adolescence is a time of dramatic change in family relationships. It’s important to understand
how changes within the family, and in the broader context of family life, affect young
people’s psychological development.
Peer Groups:
Over the past 100 years, the peer group has come to play an increasingly important role in the
socialization and development of teenagers.
Schools:
Contemporary society depends on schools to occupy, socialize, and educate adolescents.
Work, Leisure, and the Mass Media:
Some of the most important influences on adolescent development are found outside of home
and school: part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, and the mass media, including social
media, which have become increasingly important in teenagers’ lives.
Psychosocial Development in Adolescence
The third, and final, component of our framework concerts the major psychosocial
developments of adolescence – identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, and achievement – as
well as certain psychosocial problems that may arise at this age.
Psychosocial: Referring to aspects of development that are both psychological and social in
nature, such as developing a sense of identity or sexuality.
, Of course, it is not only during the adolescent years that concerns about identity, autonomy,
intimacy, sexuality, and achievement arise, and psychological or social problems can and do
occur during all periods of life. They represent basic developmental challenges that we face as
we grow and change: (1) discovering and understanding who we are as individuals – identity;
(2) establishing a healthy sense of independence – autonomy; (3) forming close and caring
relationships with others – intimacy; (4) expressing sexual feelings and enjoying physical
contact with others – sexuality; and (5) being successful and competent members of society –
achievement. Although these concerns are not unique to adolescence, development in each of
these areas takes a special turn during this stage.
Identity: The domain of psychosocial development involving self-conceptions, self-esteem,
and the sense of who one is.
Autonomy: The psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of
independence. During adolescence, three aspects are of special importance: becoming less
emotionally dependent on parents, learning to function independently, and establishing a
personal code of values and morals.
Intimacy: The psychosocial domain concerning the formation, maintenance, and termination
of close relationships.
Sexuality: The psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of sexual
feelings.
Achievement: The psychosocial domain concerning behaviors and feelings in evaluative
situations.
Psychosocial Problems:
Three sets of problems are often associated with adolescence: drug and alcohol use and abuse,
delinquency and other “externalizing problems”, and depression and other “internalizing
problems”.
Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescence
It’s useful to organize theoretical perspectives on adolescence around a question that has long
dominated discussions of human development more generally: How much is due to “nature,”
or biology, and how much is due to “nurture,” or the environment. We’ll begin with a look at
the most extreme biological perspectives and work our way across a continuum toward the
other extreme – perspectives that stress the role of the environment.
Biosocial Theories
Theorists who have taken a biological or, more accurately, “biosocial,” view of adolescence
stress the hormonal and physical changes of puberty as driving forces.
Biosocial theories: Theories of adolescence that emphasize the biological changes of the
period.
Hall’s Theory of Recapitulation:
G. Stanley Hall believed that the development of the individual paralleled the development of
the human species, a notion referred to as his theory of recapitulation. Infancy, in his view,
Preparation Exam 1
Adolescence – Chapter Introduction
The Boundaries of Adolescence
Adolescence: The stage of development that begins with puberty and ends when individuals
make the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about 10 until the early 20s
(definition used in this book).
Adolescence is a period of transitions: biological, psychological, social, economic.
There are a variety of boundaries we might draw between childhood and adolescence, and
between adolescence and adulthood:
Perspective When Adolescence Begins When Adolescence Ends
Biological Onset of puberty Becoming capable of sexual
reproduction
Emotional Beginning of detachment Attainment of separate sense
from parents identity
Cognitive Emergence of more Consolidation of advanced
advanced reasoning abilities reasoning abilities
Interpersonal Beginning of shift in interest Development of capacity for
from parental to peer intimacy with peers
relations
Social Beginning of training for Full attainment of adult
adult work, family, and status and privileges
citizen roles
Educational Entrance into junior high Completion of formal
school schooling
Legal Attainment of juvenile status Attainment of majority
status
Chronological Attainment of designated Attainment of designated
age of adolescence (e.g., 10 age of adulthood (e.g., 21
years) years)
Cultural Entrance into period of Completion of ceremonial
training for ceremonial rite rite of passage
of passage
Determining the beginning and ending of adolescence is more a matter of opinion than of
absolute fact. Rather than argue which boundaries are the correct ones, it makes more sense to
think of development during adolescence as involving a series of transitions from immaturity
into maturity.
Early, Middle, and Late Adolescence
Early adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 10-13, corresponding roughly to the
junior high or middle school years.
,Middle adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 14-17, corresponding to the high
school years.
Late adolescence: The period spanning roughly ages 18-21, corresponding approximately to
the college years.
In discussing development during adolescence, we’ll need to be sensitive not only to
differences between adolescence and childhood, or between adolescence and adulthood, but
also to differences among the various phases of adolescence itself. Some writers also have
suggested that a new phase of life, called emerging adulthood, characterizes the early and
mid-20s.
Emerging adulthood: The period spanning roughly ages 18-25, during which individuals
make the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
There is little evidence, however, that this is a universal stage. There are multiple pathways
from adolescence into adulthood.
A Framework for Studying Adolescent Development
The model by John Hill used in this book has three basic components: (1) the fundamental
changes of adolescence, (2) the contexts of adolescence, and (3) the psychosocial
developments of adolescence.
The Fundamental Changes of Adolescence
According to Hill, three features of adolescent development give the period its special flavor
and significance: (1) the onset of puberty (biological), (2) the emergence of more advanced
thinking abilities (cognitive), and (3) the transition into new roles in society (social).
Importantly, these three sets of changes are universal changes; virtually without exception, all
adolescents in every society go through them.
Biological Transitions:
The chief elements of the biological changes of adolescence – which collectively are referred
to as puberty – involve changes in the young person’s physical appearance and the
development of the ability to conceive children.
Puberty: The biological changes of adolescence.
Cognitive Transitions:
The word cognitive refers to the processes that underlie how people think. Compared with
children, adolescents are much better able to think about hypothetical situations and about
abstract concepts.
Social Transitions:
All societies distinguish between individuals who are viewed as children and those who are
seen as ready to become adults. Changes in rights, privileges, and responsibilities constitute
the third set of fundamental changes that occur at adolescence: social changes. In some
cultures, the social changes of adolescence are marked by a formal ceremony – a rite of
passage. In most contemporary industrialized societies, the transition is less clearly marked,
but a change in social status is a universal feature of adolescence.
,Rite of passage: A ceremony or ritual marking an individual’s transition from one social
status to another, especially marking the young person’s transition to adulthood.
The Context of Adolescence
Although all adolescence experience the biological, cognitive, and social transitions of the
period, the effects of these changes are not uniform for all young people. The psychological
impact of the biological, cognitive, and social changes of adolescence is shaped by the
environment in which the changes take place. In other words, psychological development
during adolescence is a product of the interplay between a set of three very basic, universal
changes and the context in which these changes are experienced. For this reason, the second
component of our framework is the context of adolescence. According to the ecological
perspective on human development, whose main proponent was Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979),
we cannot understand development without examining the environment in which it occurs. In
modern society, there are four main contexts in which young people spend time: families,
peer groups, schools, and work and leisure settings.
Ecological perspective on human development: A perspective on development that
emphasizes the broader context in which development occurs.
Of course, these settings themselves are located within neighborhood, which influence how
they are structured and what takes place in them. and the community in which these settings
are located is itself embedded in a broader context that is shaped by culture, geography, and
history.
Families:
Adolescence is a time of dramatic change in family relationships. It’s important to understand
how changes within the family, and in the broader context of family life, affect young
people’s psychological development.
Peer Groups:
Over the past 100 years, the peer group has come to play an increasingly important role in the
socialization and development of teenagers.
Schools:
Contemporary society depends on schools to occupy, socialize, and educate adolescents.
Work, Leisure, and the Mass Media:
Some of the most important influences on adolescent development are found outside of home
and school: part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, and the mass media, including social
media, which have become increasingly important in teenagers’ lives.
Psychosocial Development in Adolescence
The third, and final, component of our framework concerts the major psychosocial
developments of adolescence – identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, and achievement – as
well as certain psychosocial problems that may arise at this age.
Psychosocial: Referring to aspects of development that are both psychological and social in
nature, such as developing a sense of identity or sexuality.
, Of course, it is not only during the adolescent years that concerns about identity, autonomy,
intimacy, sexuality, and achievement arise, and psychological or social problems can and do
occur during all periods of life. They represent basic developmental challenges that we face as
we grow and change: (1) discovering and understanding who we are as individuals – identity;
(2) establishing a healthy sense of independence – autonomy; (3) forming close and caring
relationships with others – intimacy; (4) expressing sexual feelings and enjoying physical
contact with others – sexuality; and (5) being successful and competent members of society –
achievement. Although these concerns are not unique to adolescence, development in each of
these areas takes a special turn during this stage.
Identity: The domain of psychosocial development involving self-conceptions, self-esteem,
and the sense of who one is.
Autonomy: The psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of
independence. During adolescence, three aspects are of special importance: becoming less
emotionally dependent on parents, learning to function independently, and establishing a
personal code of values and morals.
Intimacy: The psychosocial domain concerning the formation, maintenance, and termination
of close relationships.
Sexuality: The psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of sexual
feelings.
Achievement: The psychosocial domain concerning behaviors and feelings in evaluative
situations.
Psychosocial Problems:
Three sets of problems are often associated with adolescence: drug and alcohol use and abuse,
delinquency and other “externalizing problems”, and depression and other “internalizing
problems”.
Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescence
It’s useful to organize theoretical perspectives on adolescence around a question that has long
dominated discussions of human development more generally: How much is due to “nature,”
or biology, and how much is due to “nurture,” or the environment. We’ll begin with a look at
the most extreme biological perspectives and work our way across a continuum toward the
other extreme – perspectives that stress the role of the environment.
Biosocial Theories
Theorists who have taken a biological or, more accurately, “biosocial,” view of adolescence
stress the hormonal and physical changes of puberty as driving forces.
Biosocial theories: Theories of adolescence that emphasize the biological changes of the
period.
Hall’s Theory of Recapitulation:
G. Stanley Hall believed that the development of the individual paralleled the development of
the human species, a notion referred to as his theory of recapitulation. Infancy, in his view,
