1. Adolescence

2. Theories of Adolescent Development
Robert Havighurst
David Elkind
Lawrence Kohlberg
Erik Erikson
James Marcia

3. Havighurst
Believed every adolescent faced certain challenges in the form of developmental tasks
These tasks must be mastered.
Accepting one’s physical makeup and acquiring a masculine or feminine gender role
Developing appropriate relations with age-mates of both sexes
Becoming emotionally independent of parents and other adults
Achieving the assurance that one will become economically independent
Deciding on, preparing for and entering a vocation
Understanding and achieving socially responsible behavior
Preparing for marriage and family

4. Elkind
Described some problems adolescents develop as a result of immaturity and abstract thought processes:
Finding fault with authority figures
Argumentativeness
Indecisiveness
Apparent hypocrisy
Self-consciousness
Invulnerability

5. Kohlberg Many adolescents go through changes in their moral thinking
Individuals who progress to stage 5 become concerned over whether a law is fair or just.
They believe laws must change as the world changes and that laws are never absolute.
Reaching higher levels of moral thinking involves the ability to abstract- to see a situation from another’s viewpoint.

6. Erikson
According to Erikson, building an identity is a task that is unique to adolescence.
To achieve some sense of themselves, most adolescents must go through (according to Erikson) and identity crisis
A time of inner conflict during which they worry intensely about their identities.
Brought on by physiological and cognitive changes, and newly awakened sex drive
Conflict arises from wanting to be “unique” while also wanting to “fit in”