Transcript THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
CHAPTER 6
The Adolescent in Society
Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society
Section 2: Teenagers and Dating
Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society
Objectives:
 Explain how adolescence developed as a
distinct stage of the life cycle in the United
States.
 Identify the five general characteristics of
adolescence.
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society
How Adolescence Developed
as a Stage of the Life Cycle
 Through Education – children stay in school
longer; extended period of dependence
 Through Work – laws restricted child labor,
also increasing length of dependence
 Through Courts – juvenile-justice system
legally distinguished between youth and adults
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society
Five General
Characteristics of Adolescence
 Biological Growth and Development – various
biological changes such as changes in body
proportions and acne
 Undefined Status – adolescent expectations are
often vague
 Increased Decision Making – must make some of
their own decisions
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society
Five General
Characteristics of Adolescence
(continued)
 Increased Pressure – adolescents are faced with
pressure from many sources
 The Search for Self – deciding what is really
important
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 2: Teenagers and Dating
Objectives:
 Summarize how dating developed as a form of
social interaction.
 Describe the functions that dating fulfills.
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 2: Teenagers and Dating
Development of Dating
 Industrial Revolution – people moved from the farms
to the cities where young adults could gain more
economic freedom and their own home. As a result,
parental control over young adults and courtship
decreased.
 Public Education – by the 1900s most secondary
school students attended coeducational public schools
which increased interaction between boys and girls
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 2: Teenagers and Dating
Development of Dating
(continued)
 Automobile – young adults had more freedom of
movement away from parents
 Telephone – young adults could more easily talk to
members of the opposite sex
 Equality of Women – more women entered the
workforce and took on more active community roles
which increased the interaction between single adult
men and women
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 2: Teenagers and Dating
Functions of Dating
 Serves as a form of entertainment
 Is a means of socialization that teaches people about
the opposite sex
 Fills psychological needs such as companionship
 Helps individuals attain status as people are judged in
part by whom they date
 Aids in spouse selection
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence
Objectives:
 Identify some of the social problems facing
contemporary teenagers.
 Trace the causes and consequences of these
problems.
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence
Social Problems
of Contemporary Teenagers
 Teenage Sexual Behavior
 Teenage Drug Use
 Teenage Suicide
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence
Causes and Consequences of
Contemporary Problems – Sexual Behavior
 Cause – loosening of norms concerning
sexuality; low-income, one-parent families
 Consequence – teenage pregnancy; exposure
to or acquiring STDs such as syphilis or AIDS
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence
Causes and Consequences of
Contemporary Problems – Drug Use
 Cause – dropping out of school; having friends
who use drugs; social and academic
adjustment problems; hostile and rejecting
family setting
 Consequence – increase in the use of some
drugs among teens; increase in drug-related
violence
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence
Causes and Consequences of
Contemporary Problems – Suicide
 Cause – alcohol or drug use; triggering events such as
a family crisis or other trials of adolescence; being
female; social isolation, living in an underpopulated
area, bad family environment; cluster effect from
publicized suicides
 Consequence – death; possible cluster effects leading
to other teenage suicides; rise in U.S. teenage suicide
rate; teen suicide rate now exceeds that for adults
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON