1. Chapter Five: The Adolescent in Society
Section 1: Understanding Adolescence
Vocabulary:
1. Adolescence – the period between the normal onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood
2. Puberty – the physical maturing that makes an individual capable of sexual reproduction
3. Anticipatory Socialization – learning the rights, obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare of assuming that role in the future

2. The Concept of Adolescence: Adolescence is a unique stage in a person’s life. Adolescence as a distinct life stage is the creation of modern industrial society. It is not a universal phenomenon. The only common characteristic among adolescences is they all experience puberty. In American society adolescence is generally considered to run from the ages of 12 to 19. However, puberty and acceptance into the adult world occur at different times for different people. Therefore, the beginning and end dates of adolescence are somewhat blurred. In the United States, adolescence did not exist as a stage of life prior to the Civil War. Before that time, young people were treated simply as small adults.

3. Three factors have been particularly important in the development of adolescence as a distinct life stage in the United States: 1. Education: - State laws made education mandatory up to the age of 16, and most young people will stay in school till they are Those that choose to continue into college will be in their early 20’s when they graduate. - Continued education causes the stage of adolescence to last longer because many students are dependent on others for their financial support. While in school, most students do not take on the other roles of adulthood, such as spouse, parent, and provider.

4. 2. The exclusion of youth from the labor force: - Most states, child-labor laws prevent people from working until the age of 16 - Working adolescents do not typically have full-time jobs. Most are working part-time jobs while continuing to go to school. 3. The development of the juvenile-justice system: - By distinguishing between juvenile and adult offenders, American society has created a separate legal status for young people.

5. Characteristics of Adolescence: 1
Characteristics of Adolescence: 1. Biological Growth and Development: - The beginning of adolescence is typically marked by the onset of puberty. - Teens will experience growth spurts, voice changes. - Almost all teenagers develop some form of acne. - These changes sometimes cause anxiety or embarrassment, which is particularly true when the physical development of the individual is much faster or slower than others of the same age. 2. Undefined Status: - The expectation of adolescents is often vague. Some adults will treat adolescents as children while others will treat them as adults. - It can be difficult for adolescents to determine their status.

6. 3. Increased Decision Making: - When children reach adolescence, they must make many of their own decisions. Examples: courses in school, sports to participate in, clubs to join in, colleges, future career. - There seems to be no end to the decisions that must be made. 4. Increased Pressure: - Adolescents are faced with pressure from many sources. - Young people are under pressure to strike a balance between parental wishes and peer pressures. - Increased pressure to succeed in school. - But the greatest about of pressure comes from their peers. - Adolescents also face pressure to establish relationships. Acceptance and popularity are central concerns. - Some adolescents face the pressure of finding a job and keeping that job.

7. 5. The Search for Self: - Adolescents are mature enough to think about themselves and about what they want out of life. - Adolescents will begin to pick their values and what is important to them. They will put together norms that will guide their behavior. An adolescent will start to set priorities for their lives. - During adolescence anticipatory socialization becomes very important in learning about adult responsibilities. A part-time job, club membership, and dating are three common forms of anticipatory socialization during adolescence.

8. Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Vocabulary: 4
Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Vocabulary: 4. Dating – a social behavior that allows individuals to choose their own marriage partners 5. Courtship – a social interaction similar to dating but with the sole purpose of eventual marriage 6. Homogamy – the tendency of individuals to marry people with social characteristics similar to their own

9. Dating and Courtship: Like adolescence, dating is not a universal phenomenon. Dating is very common among societies that allow individuals to choose their own marriage partners. In some societies, marriages are arranged by parents or a go-between who negotiates a formal marriage contract between families. - Dating did not emerge as a form a social interaction between sexes until after WWI. Only in the past 60 years have sociologists studied dating. - Prior to dating, interaction between young unmarried men and women was restricted to courtship. Courtship’s express purpose is marriage.

10. Dating: - May lead to marriage, but the main purpose of dating is entertainment and amusement, at least in the causal stages. - Try viewing dating as a continuum. The continuum begins with casual dating, and then moves on to engagement and, eventually to marriage. The interaction may stop at any point along the continuum. Courtship: - The courtship system that existed prior to dating was not this flexible. Courtship was no casual, and roles were very strictly defined. To begin this process a young man must meet the young lady parents ask their permission. It was also expected that the man’s intentions would be honorable. - The process would usually take place in the parlor of the woman’s home under close supervision. The couple was rarely left alone.

11. The Emergence of Dating: - The rise of industrialization contributed greatly to the development of dating in the United States. - Before industrialization, the timing of marriage was delated until a young man’s father was willing to transfer a portion of the family land to the son. Parents exercised considerable control over the marriage choices of their children. 1. Many people were leaving the farms and moving to cities. - This action caused young adults to become less dependent on their parents for economic security. They could easier establish their own households independent of their parents. - This economic freedom reduced parental control over courtship and set the stage for the development of dating.

12. 2. Free Public secondary education - Beginning of the 1900’s, the majority of secondary-school students were enrolled in public schools. - Public schools were coeducational, which meant that young men and women spent a good portion of their day with one another. 3. After WWI dating sped up. - More people were having phones and automobiles. These two technological developments gave young people added freedom. - The 1920’s also was a period of increased social and political equality for women.

13. Willard Waller: conducted one of the earliest sociological analyses of American dating patterns. - During the late 1920’s and 1930’s Waller studied the dating habits of students at Pennsylvania State Univ. - His finding concluded that casual dating was a form of entertainment, and it had very little to do with mate selection. - Status attainment and excitement were at the center of dating. - Partners were selected on good looks, nice clothes, and popularity - The object was to be seen with the “right” people.

14. Functions of Dating: 1. Dating is a form of entertainment 2
Functions of Dating: 1. Dating is a form of entertainment 2. A mechanism for socialization a. Teaches how to behave in social situations b. Helps individuals to learn appropriate role behaviors and to define their self-concepts 3. Fulfills certain basic psychological needs a. Conservation, companionship, and understanding 4. Attain status 5. Spouse selection a. Occurring during the later stages of dating

15. Dating Patterns: Traditional Dating Patterns: - Can still be found in small towns and rural areas of the U.S. - This dating pattern was more popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s. - The man arranged the date. He was expected to contact his intended dating partner, suggest a time and place for the date, select the activity, and pay for any expenses that arose. - The dating behavior was quite ritualized. Each member knew their role and expectation during the date. - If you wanted to go on a date on Saturday night the date was planned starting on Wednesday - After dating for a while a couple would make a commitment to “going steady”. A visible symbol would indicate this commitment: the man’s class ring, identification bracelet, or letterman’s jacket.

16. Contemporary Dating Patterns: - Since the 1960’s, dating followed such formal patterns. Today men and women interact with each other informally. There are no set stages of dating. - There is a greater sense of equality in dating, and both sexes actively initiate dates. It has also become more acceptable for either partner to pay for the date. - The greatest change between the two patterns is the tendency toward flexibility. - Today teens have more opportunities to communicate with each other through text messaging and ing. - Today’s teenagers can face enormous emotional stresses because of the freedom they have.

17. Chapter 5: The Adolescent in Society Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Pages Vocabulary: 1. Abstinence – voluntarily not engaging in sexual behavior 2. Sexually Transmitted Disease (STDs) – diseases acquired through sexual activity 3. Drug – a substance that changes mood, behavior, or consciousness 4. Social Integration – the degree of attachment people have to social groups or to society as a whole Teenage Sexual Behavior: The norms governing sexual behavior vary widely from society to society. Some small preindustrial societies give permission for adolescents to engage in sex before marriage. In Western countries, they traditionally have very strict norms indicating not to have sex until you are married.

18. The Sexual Revolution: - Until the 1960’s, traditional sexual values had the support of the vast majority of Americans. - During the 1960’s and 1970’s you had the development of the birth-control pill, a youth counterculture, and the feminist movement led to what has been called the “sexual revolution.” - During this revolution, the topic of sex was openly discussed and explored. - There has been a dramatic increase in adolescent sexual behavior causing social scientists to devote considerable time to measuring the rate of teenage activity and to analyzing the factors that influence teenage sexual consequences.

19. The Rate of Teenager Sexual Activity:
- According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in % of unmarried American females between the ages were sexually active the rate of activity increased by 50%.
, 22 births per 1,000 unmarried teenage females. By the birthrate had risen to 43.
In 2005 the rate was 40.5, the CDC put together a greater effort to educate teenagers.
Influence on Early Sexual Activity:
- The social and economic factors found to influence early sexual activity are:
• Family-income level
• Parent’s marital status
• Religious participation
- Teenagers who hang out with peers who engage in sexual activity. Early sexual behavior is also associated with other risk-taking behaviors such as drug use and delinquency.

20. Consequences of Early Sexual Activity: - Teen Pregnancy: 1 million teenager women become pregnant each year. - In 2008 one in four women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States is infected with either HPV, chlamydia, or genital herpes. Teen Drug Use: - About 8% of Americans 12 years and older are drug users. Drug Violence: there was 589 drug-related murders in the United States. Most of the violence was largely the result of turf wars between rival gangs engaged in drug trafficking. - Crack cocaine is the principal cause of the dramatic rise in drug-related violence.

21. - Drug-related juvenile arrests skyrocketed during the 1980’s
- Drug-related juvenile arrests skyrocketed during the 1980’s. Today there have been more than 200,000 juveniles arrested in the United States for drug-abuse violations. Influences on Teenage Drug Use: • Having friends who regularly engage in drug use • Having social and academic adjustment problems • Living in a hostile and rejecting family setting Teen Suicide: - The suicide among young people in the United States more than doubled in the past three decades. - In 1997 a youth suicide occurs once every 2 hours in our country, 12 times a day, 84 times a week well over 4000 times a year. - 3rd leading cause of death among 10 to 14-years-olds.

22. The Sociological View of Suicide: Emile Durkheim: - His classic study Suicide is still the most comprehensive sociological analysis of suicide to date. He was interested why some groups had higher suicide rates than others did. His work centered on social integration. Durkheim’s work indicated groups or societies with high or low social integration experienced a high rate of suicide. Teenage Suicides: - The challenges of growing up can be very difficult for a teen.