Adolescence: Psychosocial Development Part V Chapter Sixteen Adolescence: Psychosocial Development Identity Relationships Sexuality Sadness and Anger Prepared by Madeleine Lacefield Tattoon, M.A.

Identity A consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of roles, attitudes, beliefs, and aspirations.

Identity identity versus diffusion Erikson’s terms for the fifth stage of development, in which the person tries to figure out “Who am I?” but is confused as to which of many possible roles to adopt.

Identity, cont. identity achievement Erikson’s term for the attainment of identity, or the point at which a person understands who he or she is as a unique individual, in accord with past experiences and future plans.

Identity, cont. Not Yet Achievement identity diffusion is the opposite of identity achievement… it is a situation in which an adolescent does not seem to know or care what his or her identity is. “Whatever.”

Identity, cont. Not Yet Achievement Foreclosure Erickson’s term for premature identity formation, which occurs when an adolescent adopts parents’ or society’s roles and values wholesale, without questioning and analysis. short-circuit their search by not questioning traditional values

Identity, cont. Not Yet Achievement, cont. moratorium A way for adolescents to postpone making identity achievement choices by finding an accepted way to avoid identity achievement. going to college is the most common example

Identity, cont. Four Arenas of Identity Achievement highlighted by Erikson… religious identity few teenagers achieve most religions expect young people to struggle with theological questions sexual or gender identity “sex/sexual” referring to biological male/female characteristics “gender” referring to cultural and social characteristics

Identity, cont. Four Arenas of Identity Achievement… “political” or “ethnic” identity political, identifying with a party ethnic, identifying with a person vocational identity few teenagers can find meaningful work most available jobs are different from in the past the required skills for many vocations take years to attain – makes it premature to select at age 16

Relationships Adults and teenagers Conflicts at home bickering – repeated, petty arguments What do you see in the body position of these two that suggests a generational conflict?

Relationships Closeness with the family Communication Support talk openly with one another Support rely on one another Connectedness emotionally close Control encourage or limit autonomy parental monitoring – parent knowledge about child’s whereabouts

Relationships Ongoing influence Peer Support Cliques and Crowds Clique A group of adolescents made up of close friends who are loyal to one another while excluding outsiders Crowd A large group of adolescents who have something in common but who are not necessarily related

Relationships Choosing friends peer pressure deviance training social pressure to conform to peer activities deviance training destructive peer support in which one person shows another how to rebel against authority or social norms peer selection ongoing, active process whereby adolescents select friends based on shared interests and values peer facilitation encouragement adolescents give one another to partake in activities or behaviors they would not otherwise do alone – constructive or destructive

Relationships Friends of Both Sexes Immigrant Youth parents sometime worry about boy-girl contact.. Immigrant Youth millions of immigrants born abroad or those whose parents were born in another nation one-third in Frankfurt one-half in Amsterdam two-thirds in Los Angeles and New York

Sexuality Before Committed Partnership groups of friends, exclusively one sex or the other a loose association of girls and boys, with public interactions within a crowd small mixed-sex groups of the advanced members of the crowd formation of couples, with private intimacies

Sexuality Romances first appears in high school

Sexuality Homosexual Youth Learning About Sex Peers complications slow down the formation of friendships and romantic bonds Learning About Sex parents and societies continue to be concerned about adolescent sexual relationships Peers sexual behavior is strongly influenced by information, and examples of other adolescents

Sexuality, cont. Parents Sex Education in School Sexual Behavior play a pivotal role in teenagers sexual decisions Sex Education in School U.S. began a massive experiment in 1998 Sexual Behavior not all adolescents are having sex rates vary from nation to nation teen births overall have decreased dramatically in every nation the use of “protection” has increased the abortion rate is also down

Sadness and Anger Comorbidity Depression Suicide a situation in which two or more unreleated illnesses or disorders occur at the same time Depression Clinical depression Suicide Suicidal ideation Parasuicide Cluster suicides

Sadness and Anger, cont. More destructiveness Breaking the law Incidence Prevalence

Sadness and Anger, cont. Cause of delinquency Life-course-persistent offender Adolescence-limited offender