Transcript PSYC 2314 Chapter 16

PSYC 2314
Lifespan Development
Chapter 16
Adolescence:
Psychosocial Development
The Self and Identity
• Identity: a unique and consistent selfdefinition
• Erikson’s Identity vs. Role Confusion
Identity Statuses
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Identity Achievement
Foreclosure
Negative Identity
Identity Diffusion
Identity Moratorium
Society and Identity
• For immigrants and minority adolescents,
identity formation is particularly complex
because they must find the right balance
between their ethnic background and the
values of the society at large.
Consequently, they may embrace a negative
identity, or, as is more often the case,
foreclose on identity prematurely.
Family and Friends
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Generation Gap
Generational Stake
Conflict/bickering
Parental monitoring
Family and Friends
• Other aspects of family functioning
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Communication
Support
Connectiveness
Control
Family and Friends
• Four special functions of peer relationships
and close friendships
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Pubertal self-help
Social support
Identity formation
Values clarification
Peer Group for Immigrants
• Conflict between peers and family is likely
to arise in ethnic groups that revere
closeness to family, respect for elders, and
self-sacrifice for the sake of kin. This ideal
clashes with the peer-group emphasis on
adolescent freedom and self-determination.
Relationship
• Heterosexual Attraction
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Peer group
Timing of puberty
Culture
Parents
Availability of someone in a setting that allows
sexual interaction
Four-Step Progression
• Groups of same-sex friends
• Loose, public interactions between a girl’s
group and a boy’s group
• A smaller heterosexual group formed from
the more advanced members of the larger
group
• Final pairing off of heterosexual couples.
Gay or Lesbian Relationship
• Added complications usu. slow down
romantic attachments.
– Not yet recognized sexual orientation
– Difficulty in finding both romantic partners and
loyal friends in whom to confide
– Denial of feelings
Adolescent Suicide
• Suicidal ideation: thinking about suicide.
• Parasuicide: deliberate acts of selfdestruction that do not cause death
Factors Leading to Suicide or
Parasuicide
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Availability of lethal methods
Parental monitoring
Use of alcohol and other drugs
Gender
Attitudes about suicide held by the
adolescent’s culture
Breaking the Law
• The incidence of arrests is higher during the
second decade than in any other period of life.
• The prevalence of adolescent crime is even greater
than official records report.
• Boys are 3x as likely to be arrested as girls and
African Americans are nearly 3x as likely to be
arrested as European Americans, who are 3x as
likely to be arrested as Asian Americans.
Breaking the Law
• Adolescent-limited offenders: criminal
activity stops by age 21
• Life-course persistent offenders: career
criminals
Intervention Measures
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Cohesive neighborhood
Effective school
Supportive peer group
Stable family
A best friend who discourages crime
Themes of Adolescent Development
• Most adolescents and families survive the
adolescent transition fairly well.
• While all adolescents have some
difficulties, no developmental trajectory is
set in stone.