Chapter 6: The Adolescent in Society

Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society You tell me…  What is your role, where do you fit? When does someone become an adult? What about in our society specifically? Adolescence:  The period b/t the normal onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood. Ages Does this exist in all societies, cultures? Puberty:  Physical maturing that makes an individual capable of sexual reproduction.

The Concept of Adolescence Not everywhere, in some cultures children must endure a right of passage…. Examples? Didn’t exist before the Civil War. These factors are important to the development of adolescence:  1.) Education – compulsory laws  2.) Child-labor laws; most states say you can’t work until..?  3.) Juvenile-justice systems Why do we have these factors in our society?

5 Characteristics of Adolescence 5 characteristics that generally apply to all adolescents:  1.) Biological growth and development  2.) Undefined status  3.) Increased decision making  4.) Increased pressures  5.) The search for self

5 Characteristics of Adolescence: Biological Growth and Development Puberty – biological universal What is involved with puberty?  Boys:  Girls: Did you know:  Almost all young people develop some form of acne. 40% have it so severe, they seek medical treatment Changes cause embarrassment and anxiety

5 Characteristics of Adolescence: Undefined Status Society’s expectations for children and adults are clear… not so for teens.  Sometimes treated like children, sometimes treated like adults  Ex: can marry, in some states, at 16; but must be 18 to vote. People either love adolescent trends or hate them:  Think your dance, music, fashion sense, TV, etc.

5 Characteristics of Adolescence: Increased Decision Making Parents decide for you as a kid, not as an adolescent. What things do you have to decide? What to wear, make for lunch, clubs to be in, sports to play, do for college, do for the rest of your life?

5 Characteristics of Adolescence: Increased Pressure Peer pressure!!!! What is it? To do what? From whom? Businesses advertise to teens a bunch!  Can you think of any specifically??? Acceptance, Popularity

5 Characteristics of Adolescence: The Search for Self True or False:  You are mature enough to think about what you want out of life.  You can follow your morals and values outside of school.  You can decide what things are really important to you. Anticipatory socialization:  Learning the rights, obligations and expectations of a role to prepare for assuming that role in the future. EX? Part-time job, club membership and dating – three forms at this time

Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Social behavior Not a cultural universal Dating:  Meeting of people as a romantic engagement  Commonly found in societies where individuals are allowed to chose their own partners Sometimes…  Marriages are arranged by parents or a match maker  People don’t meet each other until their wedding day Purpose of dating:  Entertainment, fun, casual

Before dating there was…Courtship Courtship  This was the interaction b/t young men and young women.  Purpose is marriage.  In b/t steady dating and engagement  Not casual  Roles strictly defined  Boys ask girls parents’ permission to court her His intentions should be honorable  Usually took place in woman’s parlor at home under supervision or in a social group.

The Rise of Dating Industrialism helped, how?  Young adults became less dependent on their parents for their security. Free public secondary education  More time together… World War I brought more phones and cars  More freedom!  More equality for women in workplace, thus more interaction Willard Waller’s American dating patterns study  Sororities and Fraternities  Be seen with right people, in right car, good looks, nice clothes, etc….don’t damage your rep

Result: Status attainment is important Homogamy:  Tendency for individuals to marry people who have social characteristics similar to their own.  EX: Dating different in the South than the North? In the 50’s than now?

So, why date? It is a form of entertainment It is a mechanism for socialization  Helps teach members of the opposite sex how to behave in social situations. Fulfills certain basic psychological needs such as conversation, companionship, and understanding. Helps individuals attain status. Spouse selection becomes an important issue.

Activity!!! New forms of dating: speed dating, on-line dating websites. You are going to put on a dating commercial!!!  1-2 minutes in length.  Need a script, at least two actors, must perform for class (bring props!!!) You can put on a dating commercial for a new method of dating, existing method of dating, or previous method of dating.

Dating Patterns - Traditional Man was to arrange the date, suggest a time and place, select the activity, and pay. Both parties knew roles; tied to social status. Wednesdays was the day to arrange Saturday dates.  Accepting a date later in the week meant that the woman was not the man’s first choice. Go to an activity, movie or game.  If you don’t interact well, you can focus elsewhere.

Dating Patterns: Traditional Steady dating:  If they have been dating a while  Boy could give girl his class ring or a letter jacket.  Form of anticipatory socialization for marriage.

Contemporary Dating Patterns Since 1960, have not had such formal dating patterns.  So much more social interaction Greater equality in dating:  Both men and women: Initiate dates, pay for dates, Relationships based on friendships and the “group”

Amish Dating They have no movie theaters, football games, cars, etc.; but they still date! Begin to date at age 16.  Boys receive their own Courting Buggy (horse drawn carriage). Spend most time together at formal events: weddings, picnics, barn raisings, etc. Arrange dates at Sunday Singings  Men and women sit across from each other, sing and talk, afterwards, they mingle; and some pair off. The men escort the women home on foot or buggy Steady – date once every one or two weeks Very discreet, usually only annouce the marriage when they are about to marry. Amish do not recognize divorce

Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Do you think it is different being a teenager today than it was 30 or 50 years ago, why?

Teenage Sexual Behavior Western nations have strict norms against premarital sexuality.  From Puritan and Victorian society  Sex should be confined to marriage. Had a lot of support until?.... The 1960/70’s development of the birth control pill, a youth counterculture, and the feminist movement brought the “Sexual Revolution!”

Times are a-changing… The Sexual Revolution brought a lot of talk…  Human sexuality was openly discussed and explored  Sexuality is a feature of American culture today (on TV, films, etc.) With all this talk about it, teenagers started to …. You know….

The Rate of Teenage Sexual Activity See Adobe Reader Document By 1995, 50% of American females b/t are sexually active. By 1996, the birthrate for unmarried teens was 43 births per 1,000 unmarried teenage females. Birthrate among American teens in higher than other teens in other industrialized areas. 1990’s CDC, launched a huge program to educate American teens about sex, it worked:  Number having sex went down, number using birth control increased, and the teen-pregnancy rate fell!

Influences on early sexual activity Social and economic factors that influence early sexual activity are:  Family-income level  Parent’s marital status  Religious participation Higher-income two-parent families have a lower rate of sexual activity than teens from low- income one-parent families. Also…  If you have friends who are having sex, you are more likely to as well.

Consequences of early sexual activity Less than 1/3 of American teens who are sexually active use birth control methods regularly. About 1 million teens/year become pregnant.

More consequences: Babies born to teen mothers have lower birth weights and are more likely to die within the first year of life than babies born to women older than 20. Teens who become parents are less likely to finish HS and college.  Particularly true for teen mom’s Due in large part to lower level’s of education, individuals who become parents during adolescence have lower lifetime earnings than individuals who delay parenthood until later in life. Children of teen parents are more likely to experience learning difficulties than children of older parents. Children of teen parents have an increased risk of becoming teen parents themselves. Teen mothers often face significant emotional stress.

Let’s not forget about the other stuff…. Sexual contact exposes teens to STD’s  Syphilis, gonorrhea, Chlamydia and AIDS 4 million American teens contract an STD/year. Also, now HPV is becoming a huge concern. HIV:  In the late 1990’s AIDS ranked as the 7 th leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24  CDC – 50% of new HIV infections occur among people younger than 25

Teenage Drug Use

Drug:  Any substance that changes mood, behavior, or consciousness.  Medicines, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, heroine, etc. Greeks smoked opium, Aztecs used hallucinogens, etc. In late 1800s cocaine was an ingrediant in: soft drinks, cough medicine, and nasal sprays!

Drug Violence Rise in drug-related crime during 80s and 90s.  EX: mugging, robberies, burglaries, drug trafficking Mid 1990s – 1,000 drug-related murders/year in US Turf wars with gangs Crack cocaine  Brought about most teen arrests  1998 – 200,000 juveniles arrested in the US

Teen Drug Use

The Rate of Teenage Drug Use Chart from University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.  Studies drug use of high school seniors since Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug among high school seniors Ecstasy use has increased, LCD decreased 19% of high school seniors smoke regularly 73% of high school seniors say they have tried drinking, 50% say they had alcohol as recently as few weeks before the survey, 33% say they had 5 or more drinks within two weeks of the survey.

Significance of survey US has the highest drug use among adolescents of any industrialized country. Survey doesn’t measure 11% of young Americans who don’t graduate from high school  High school dropouts are showed to have a much higher rate of drug use.

Influences on Teenage Drug Use Why do teens use drugs? Studies show they are more likely to use if they…  Have friends who regularly use drugs  Have social and academic adjustment problems  Live in a hostile and rejecting family setting

Teenage Attitudes Towards Drug Use In 2000:  85% of teens see cocaine use is harmful to your health  58% see marijuana as harmful to your health  73% see cigarettes as harmful to your health  30% see alcohol as harmful to your health

Teenage Suicide The rate of suicide among young people in the US has more than doubled in the last three decades “A youth suicide occurs once every 2 hours in our country, 12 times a day, 84 times a week….well over 4,000 times per year.” Suicide rate for young people exceeds those for the general population. 3 rd only to accidents and homicides as the leading cause of death among those aged 15 to 24  4 th leading cause in year olds

More on Teen suicide Studies show that the rate is actually higher than what is reported  Many call suicides, an “accident”  4,000/year don’t include accidental drowning, drug overdoses, etc. In 1999, 8% of teens admitted to attempting suicide; 20% said they seriously considered it However, the rate of suicide for those is almost twice as high as the young.

The Sociological View of Suicide: E’mile Durkheim Study, Suicide is still the most comprehensive sociological analysis of suicide to date Says variations in suicide rate can be explained by the level of social integration in a group of society Social integration – degree of attachment people have to social groups or to society as a whole Groups with really high (needs of group before their own, Artic elderly) or really low degrees of social integration (wars, natural disasters, changes in economic conditions) will have high rates of suicide

Sociological View of Suicide (cont.) During times of social disorganization, suicide rates increase b/c norms that govern behavior weaken or become less clear.

Predictors of Teenage Suicide Move from child to adult… new freedoms and restrictions  Childhood norms don’t apply anymore  Many adult behaviors are inappropriate  Friends/society have more influence  Control of family lessens, teens take more responsibility for own actions

Continued… Teens focus very much on their presence, don’t realize problems can be solved with time and patience.  Ever heard: permanent solution to a temporary problem Social isolation and self-doubt… Important social factors:  Alcohol and drug use, triggering events, age, sex, population density, family relations, cluster effect, etc.

Social factors that can affect the rates of teen suicide: Alcohol and drug use:  Teens who heavily use alcohol/drugs have low levels of self-control and are easily frustrated  More likely to act on impulse  Often use drugs/alcohol as a method to commit suicide Triggering events:  Fear of punishment  Loss of or rejection by an important person  Unwanted pregnancy  Family crisis  Poor school performance  Fight with a friend or parent

Social factors that can affect the rates of teen suicide: Age:  Risk increases with age Sex:  Females are three times more likely to attempt suicide  Males are more likely to succeed Often chose weapons Population density:  Under-populated areas have a higher rate Fewer areas of access to social services

Social factors that can affect the rates of teen suicide: Family relations:  Weakening of social bonds increases likelihood of suicide  Rates are higher in families with violence, marital conflict, recent loss of a parent, etc. Cluster effect  One attempt sometimes causes others to do the same Especially if it is a popular member  As many as 200 a year are the result of a cluster effect

ProblemCausesConsequences Teenage sexual behavior Loosening of norms concerning sexuality; low-income, one-parent families. Teenage pregnancy; exposure to or acquiring STD’s such as syphilis or AIDS. Teenage drug use Dropping out of school; having friends who use drugs; social and academic adjustment problems; hostile and rejecting family settings. Increase in the use of some drugs among teens; increase in drug-related violence. Teenage suicide Alcohol or drug use; triggering events such as a family crisis or other trials of adolescence; being female; social isolation; living in an under populated area, bad family environment; cluster effect from publicized suicides. Death; possible cluster effects leading to other teenage suicides; rise in US teen suicide rate; teen suicide rate now exceeds that for adults.