Adolescence

1
Adolescence comes from the Latin word
“adolescere” meaning “ to grow” or “to
grow to maturity”

2
 Adolescence

Period in human growth

and development that
occurs after childhood
and before adulthood
from ages 10 – 19 (World
Health Organization)

AP Photo/ Jeff Chiu

3
 DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
• Achieving a new and more mature
relations with age mates of both sexes
• Achieving a masculine or feminine social
role
• Accepting one’s physique and using the
body effectively
• Achieving emotional independence of
parents and adults

4
• Achieving assurance of economic
independence
• Selecting and preparing for an occupation
• Preparing for marriage and family life
• Developing intellectual skills and concepts
necessary for civic competence
• Desiring and achieving socially
responsible behaviour
• Acquiring a set of values and ethical
system as guide to behaviour
5
 Physical Development
Adolescence begins with
puberty (sexual
maturation). Puberty
occurs earlier in females
(11 years) than males
(13 years). Thus height in
females increases before
males.

6
 Primary Sexual Characteristics

During puberty primary sexual characteristics —

the reproductive organs and external genitalia —
develop rapidly.

Ellen Senisi/ The Image Works

7
 Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Also secondary sexual characteristics—the

nonreproductive traits such as breast and hips in
girls and facial hair and deepening of voice in boys
develop. Pubic hair and hair in armpit grow in both
sexes.

8
 Brain Development
Until puberty neurons increase their connections,
however, at adolescence selective pruning of the
neurons begin. Unused neuronal connections are
lost to make other pathways more efficient.

9
 Frontal Cortex
During adolescence neurons in the frontal cortex
grow myelin which speeds up nerve conduction.
Frontal cortex lags behind limbic system
development. Hormonal surges and limbic system
may explain teens’ occasional impulsiveness.

10
 Cognitive Development
Adolescents’ ability to reason gives them a new
level of social awareness. In particular they can
think about:

1. Their own thinking.

2. What others are thinking.
3. And think about what others are thinking
about them.
4. How ideals can be reached. Criticize
society, parents and even themselves.
11
 Developing Reasoning Power
According to Piaget, adolescents can handle
abstract problems, i.e., they can perform formal
operations. Adolescents can judge good from evil,
truth and justice, and think about God in deeper
terms.

William Thomas Cain/ Getty Images

AP/Wide World Photos

12
 The immaturity of adolescent thinking manifests
in the following ways (David Elkind):

1. Idealism and criticalness

• envision an ideal world which they hold
adults responsible
• super-conscious of hypocrisy
• relish magazines & entertainers that attack
public figures with satire & parody
• convinced that they know better than adults to
run the world, they frequently find fault with
their parents
2. Argumentativeness
• constantly looking for opportunities to try
out and show off their reasoning abilities
3. Indecisiveness
• lack effective strategies for choosing
among many alternatives
4. Apparent hypocrisy

14
5. Self-consciousness
• often assume that everyone else is
thinking about the same thing they are
thinking about: themselves
• imaginary audience: a conceptualized
“observer” who is as concerned with a
young people’s thoughts and behavior
as he or she is

15
6. Specialness and invulnerability
• personal fable: a belief by adolescents
that they are special, that their experience
is unique, and that they are not subject to
the rules that govern the rest of the world
• underlies much risky, self-destructive
behavior

16
 Developing Morality
Kohlberg (1981, 1984) sought to describe the
development of moral reasoning. Kohlberg posed
moral dilemmas, like “Whether a person should
steal medicine to save a loved one’s life,” to
children and adolescents and found stages of
moral development.

AP Photo/ Dave Martin

17
 Moral Thinking
1. Preconventional Morality:
Before age 9, children show
morality to avoid
punishment or gain reward.
2. Conventional Morality: By
early adolescence social rules
and laws are upheld for their
own sake.
3. Postconventional Morality:
Affirms people’s agreed-
upon rights or follows
personally perceived ethical
principles. 18
 Identity Vs. Role Confusion
(teens-early 20s)

IDENTITY is a coherent conception of

the self, made up of goals, values, and
beliefs to which a person is socially
committed
 Identity forms as young people
resolve three major issues:

• The choice of an occupation

• The adoption of values to live by
• The development of a satisfying sexual
identity

20
 IDENTITY STATUSES
(James Marcia)

IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT
( crisis leading to commitment)
- Characterized by commitment to choices made
following a crisis, a period spent in exploring
alternatives
- tends to be mature and more socially competent

21
 FORECLOSURE
(commitment without crisis)

- A person who has not spent time considering

alternatives is committed to other people’s plan
for his or her life
- Happy and self-assured, but becomes dogmatic
when his/her opinions are questioned
- Has close family ties, is obedient and tends to
follow a powerful leader

22
 MORATORIUM
(crisis with no commitment yet)

- A person is currently considering

alternatives and seems headed for
commitment

23
 IDENTITY DIFFUSION
( no commitment, no crisis)

- characterized by absence of commitment

and lack of serious consideration of
alternatives
- Tend to be unhappy and lonely

24
 Sexual Orientation and Identity

Sexual Orientation is the focus of

consistent sexual, romantic, and
affectionate interest, either heterosexual,
homosexual, or bisexual.

25
• Sexual orientation seems to be partly genetic.
U.S. and Australian twin studies, both male and
female sexual orientation have been found to be
moderately heritable.
• The first full genome-wide scan for male sexual
orientation has identified three stretches of DNA
on chromosomes 7, 8, and 10 that appear to be
involved in whether a man is heterosexual or
gay.

26
Research has not found perfect
concordance in identical twins,
nongenetic factors must be involved.
Furthermore, different combination of
causes may operate in different
individuals, and this may account for
individual differences in the age at which
same-sex attractions first appear.

27
According to prospective and retrospective
studies, children whose behaviour is not
gender-typical, especially boys who show
strongly feminine interests, tend to grow
up to be homosexual adults.

28
• For boys, sexual arousal is likely to be
the main way in which they learn their
sexual orientation. This is probably less
true of girls.

29
 One model for the development of gay or lesbian
sexual identity proposes the following sequence:

(1) awareness of same-sex attraction (beginning

at ages 8 to 11);
(2) same-sex sexual behaviours (ages 12-15)
(3) identification as gay or lesbian (ages 15 to
18);
(4) disclosure to others (ages 17 to 19);
(5) development of same-sex romantic
relationships (ages 18 to 20).

30
Gender Differences in Identity Formation

• For women identity and intimacy develop

together
• According to Carol Gilligan, the female sense of
self develops not so much through achieving a
separate identity as through establishing
relationships
• Male self-esteem is linked with striving for
individual achievement, whereas female self-
esteem depends more on connection with others

31
 Parent and Peer Influence
Although teens become
independent of their
parents as they grow
older, they nevertheless
relate to their parents on
a number of things
including religiosity and
career choices. Peer
approval and
relationships are also
very important.
32
References

Comicspedia.(2012). Adolescence. Retrieved from

https://www.slideshare.net/Comicspedia/adolescence-14524830?qid=218730b0-95a7-4fbf-
8768-3d41b813a29f&v=&b=&from_search=7

Papalia, D.E., Olds, S.W., Feldman, R.D. (2008).Human development. (10th ed). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.

33
• Adolescent Coping Strategies in Secondary School ( Sciverse Science
Direct)
acels-cdn.com

• Truants’ and Teachers Behaviors in the Classroom (Sciverse Science

Direct)
acels-cdn.com

• Parenting and Teaching: What’s the Connection in Our Classrooms ( Part I

and Part II)
www.apa.org

• Challenging Behavior in Secondary School Students: Classroom Strategies

for Increasing Positive Behavior
www.teacherswork.ac.nz

• Classroom Misbehavior in the Eyes of Students: A Qualitative Study

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
34