Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
· Initiation ceremony of females of the Thonga tribe in Africa
· All societies have some way of socially redefining the individual
as an adult
· The transition is less explicit in U.S. than most other cultures
· The social construction of the transition influences teens’
psychosocial development
II. Social Redefinition and Psychosocial Development
· Redefinition makes adolescents feel more mature and more self-governing, and makes them think differently about dating, marriage, sexuality, and gives them the right to enter the workforce
III. Adolescence as a Social Invention
· Inventionists argue that, beyond the impact of the cognitive
and biological changes, adolescence as a separate developmental stage is
primarily defined by society’s official recognition of an individual’s
status as a child, adolescent, or adult
· Inventionists argue that the social definition of adolescence
contributes to many of the problems of contemporary adolescents
· Adolescence as we now know it was “invented” around 1900 in
the midst of the industrial revolution
· Prior to the industrial revolution, the primarily agricultural
society of the U.S. viewed children as miniature adults
· When a youth secured ownership of property, that person was
then treated as an adult
· With industrialization, it became more important for youth
to learn career skills that couldn’t be handed down from parents
· Parents then encouraged children to focus more on school in
order that they may succeed
· As a result, youth were more likely to spend their day with
peers
· Industrialization also brought with it the replacement of
workers with machines
· Children and adolescents were cheap labor, but jobs were scarce
· Child labor laws were thus enacted to protect jobs for adults
· Compulsory education laws were enacted to keep youths out
of the job market
· Child protectionists helped create child labor and compulsory
education laws to protect youth from harsh working conditions that would
impede healthy maturation
· The term teenager arose around the middle of the 1900s, and
was used to describe youth who spent a newfound affluence on frivolous
activities and products, such as cosmetics and cars
· The term “youth” has, more recently, come to describe 18-22-year-olds
IV. Changes in Status
· With changes in status, adolescents have increased freedoms
as well as increased responsiblity
A. Changes in interpersonal status
· Adolescents are expected to interact differently with their
elders and with children
· Their “role” in the family changes, e.g, they are expected
to take on more responsibility in the care of younger siblings
B. Changes in political status
· Adolescents are typically given a “voice” in the decision-making
of the culture; e.g., the right to vote in the U.S.
· There is also an increased expectation of service toward others
C. Changes in economic status
· Adolescence may bring the right to own property, and control
over one’s income
· Youth can obtain work positions that children cannot
· With this right comes the responsibility to contribute to
the economic well-being of the culture; e.g., paying taxes
D. Changes in legal status
· Reaching certain ages allows youth to certain “adult” activities,
such as driving, drinking alcohol, and casino gambling
· While children may commit status offenses, and adolescents
may come into contact with the juvenile justice system, after a certain
age youth who commit crimes will be handled by the adult courts and corrections
system
· Today, youth between ages 16-17 are often faced with adult
sanctions when they commit serious crimes, such as murder
· Courts have ruled in ways that may seem inconsistent with
regard to the level of decision-making maturity of adolescents
V. The Process of Social Redefinition
· In the U.S., social redefinition is a long process involving
many steps
· Initiation ceremonies are used to signify the adolescent’s
transition into adulthood
· Initiation ceremonies that involve groups of adolescents facilitate
“bonding” between the youth that participate. College fraternity and sorority
“hazing”, Latino quinceaneras, and debutante balls are a few examples
· The timing of initiation ceremonies varies across cultures,
depending upon political and economic forces
A. Common practices in the process of social redefinition
· There is usually real or symbolic separation from one’s parents
(extrusion)
· Youth may spend nights or live with other adults or relatives
· Apprenticeships served this role in the past in America
· There is an accentuation of physical and social differences
between males and females – in clothing and activities
· Initiation ceremonies are often performed separately for males
and females
· Ceremonies that involve scarification require the youth to
receive cuts or incisions to various parts of the body, which serve to
signify one’s adult status to others
· Ceremonies such as Jewish bar mitzvah and bas mitzvah are
used in religious groups to signify adult status
· Redefinition usually entails the passing on of cultural, historical,
and practical conventions and information from one generation to the next
· Adolescents are taught the “hows and whys” of being an adult
· In modern cultures, more subtle changes in practices signify
the passage into adulthood, such as gender separation when bathing or changing
clothes
· Ear piercing, tattoos, shaving, and using makeup are also
used to signify the transition into adulthood
VI. Variations in Social Transitions
A. Variations in clarity
1. The clarity of social redefinition in contemporary society
· Given the heterogenous nature of religious affiliation in
the U.S., initiation ceremonies are also highly variable
· If youth crossed all of the status boundaries at one time,
and if most members of a cohort experienced this transition together, the
passage into adulthood would be very clear
· However, contemporary U.S. society does not have a clear separation
between childhood and adulthood
· In the U.S., redefinition may be recognized within a family,
but little signifies to the culture that a person has entered adulthood
· High school and college graduation are the most visible transition
ceremonies
· The lack of clarity can be confusing to the adolescent
· Kurt Lewin has described the modern adolescent as a marginal
man, caught in transition between childhood and adulthood
2. The clarity of social redefinition in traditional cultures
· Traditional cultures typically have very clear ceremonies
for redefinition
· Males experience the transition with agemates
· Females experience the transition around the time of menarche
· The adolescent’s physical appearance is changed, signifying
adult status to the community
3. The clarity of social redefinition in previous eras
· The early 1800s may have been an even more confusing time
for adolescents and their status than today
· Adolescents often spent time in school (non-adult status)
as well as work (adult status)
· Industrialization excluded many adolescents from the workforce,
and many middle or lower class youth could not find jobs
· Concern about out-of-work youth influenced the creation of
compulsory education through high school
· Compared to contemporary trends, youth in the 1800s left home,
married, and established their own home somewhat later, but left school
and started working earlier
B. Variations in continuity
· The continuity of the transition into adulthood can be gradual
or abrupt
· Continuous transitions are those in which the adolescent assumes
adult roles in small increments
· Discontinuous transitions are those in which the adolescent
assumes adult roles all at once
1. The continuity of the adolescent passage in contemporary society
· Today, youth in the U.S. tend to be “thrust” into the adult
world with little preparation
· The federal government, during the 1990s, instituted a school-to-work
transition program
· Other industrialized countries still employ youth apprenticeships,
in which youth are trained for adult occupational roles before they take
on such roles
· In Germany, many high school age students spend half of their
time in school and half in a work setting learning a trade
· The transition into family (spouse, parent) and citizen (voting,
civic service) roles is even more abrupt and entails less training than
the transition into the work world
2. The continuity of the adolescent passage in traditional cultures
· Young people in non-industrialized cultures participate in
adult activities for many years before reaching adult status
· Children and youth are given responsibilities based on individual
skills and mental ability
· They are expected to contribute to in meaningful ways to the
success of the family (e.g., farming, building, making saleable goods)
· The focus in such cultures is on informal rather than formal
education
· Preparation for adulthood comes from daily experience for
a lengthy time period
3. The continuity of the adolescent passage in previous eras
· In previous centuries, American children and youth experienced
a more continuous transition into adult work roles
· However, they were also likely to remain under adult supervision
through their early 20s
· This semi-independence had disappeared, for most youth, by
1900
· Given that youth left home at a later age than is typical
today, they learned more about caring for infants and children, as well
creating and managing a livable home
· In the U.S. and Western Europe today, more people in their
early twenties cannot afford to live on their own, and typically live with
their parents or with financial assistance from parents
· Many youth in contemporary U.S. society feel little motivation
and eagerness to enter what they perceive to be a job market with little
promise
C. The sexes: Similarities and differences in the transition to adulthood
· Sociologist Margaret Marini studied the paths men and women
followed after they were in high school in the 1950s
· In chronological order, individuals typically left school,
began working, married, and had children
· The longer a person stayed in school, the less likely they
were to follow the traditional sequence
· Many people since 1950 have stayed in school longer while
at the same time starting a marriage and a family
· The data show that women are more likely than men to replace
the student role with the marriage and family role
· Males’ continuation of education is viewed as an investment
in the family, while women’s continuation in education is seen as a hindrance
to the needs of a family
D. The scientific study of adolescence: Does leaving home too early
cause problems for adolescents
· Researchers in Sweden conducted a longitudinal study of children
and youth, finding that 50% of females left home after age 18, while 50%
of males left home after age 21
· Correlational analyses indicated that, for females, leaving
home early was associated with earlier marriage, having more children,
and lower levels of education
· However, females who left home early were different as children
than females who left home later
· Those who left early had more strained family relations, poorer
adjustment, lower educational aspirations, more impulsivity, aggression,
school problems, and drug and alcohol use, earlier sexual activity and
more sexual partners
VII. The Transition into Adulthood in Contemporary Society
· Identity development may be compromised by the discontinuous
nature of the transition to adulthood our youth experience
· Erik Erikson believed that self-concept, or identity, of youth
is created by growing self-awareness and feedback from society
· Adolescent specialists believe that today’s youth, especially
those not bound for college, may find it extremely difficult to enter the
adult world
· One estimate claims that perhaps 25% of today’s youth may
fail to achieve productive adult lives
· Social scientists often argue that social problems such as
divorce rates, family violence, youth unemployment, juvenile delinquency,
and substance abuse are related to the difficult nature of transitioning
into adulthood in modern culture
A. Special transitional problems of poor and minority youth
· Poverty, discrimination, and segregation continue to hinder
the transition of many minority youth into adulthood in our culture
· Approximately 1/3 of the youth population in the U.S. are
in minority groups
· By the year 2020, ethnic minority children will account for
nearly 50% of all U.S. children
1. The effects of poverty on the transition into adulthood
· Poverty contributes to the likelihood that a person will leave
school early, be unemployed, and have children out of wedlock, all of which
make the transition into adulthood more difficult
· Such difficulties are particularly common for inner-city youth
2. The effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood
· The conditions that surround one’s home have an impact on
youth development
· High neighborhood unemployment, few neighborhood resources
(such as parks and libraries), and high crime rates impede development
· Poor neighborhoods contribute to teenage pregnancies and school
dropout rates
· Social problems are “contagious” – they spread from individual
to individual
· Poverty breeds social isolation, which contributes to harsh,
inconsistent, and punitive parenting and less social support
· Daily exposure to community violence causes stress that increases
the risk of emotional and behavioral problems
· Exposure to community violence is associated with higher rates
of aggression, thoughts of suicide, depression, PTSD, and substance abuse
B. What can be done to ease the transition?
· Ideas include restructuring education, expanding work and
volunteer opportunities, and improving community life
· Some have suggested the need to strengthen families and give
adolescents more contact with adult mentors
Study Questions
1. What is meant by the term "social redefinition"?
2. How does the process of social redefinition in contemporary American culture affect psychosocial development?
3. What is meant by the term "age of majority"?
4. What do the inventionists believe about the nature of adolescence?
5. What do the child protectionists believe about the nature of adolescence?
6. How does social status change in adolescence:
interpersonally?
politically?
economically?
legally?
7. What are the common practices and themes in the process of social redefinition?
8. How are the common practices in the process of social redefinition in contemporary American culture similar to and different from those in traditional culture?
9. How does the clarity of the social redefinition associated with the transition from adolescence into adulthood in contemporary American culture differ from that in:
traditional cultures?
previous historical eras?
10. How does the term "teenager" differ from the term "adolescent"?
11. How does the term "youth" differ from the term "adolescent"?
12. How does the continuity of the social redefinition associated with the transition from adolescence into adulthood in contemporary American culture differ from that in:
traditional cultures?
previous historical eras?
13. How can we make the school-to-work transition more continuous for American adolescents?
14. What do we know about age of leaving home and adolescent problems?
15. What are the similarities between males and females in the transition into adulthood?
16. What is the impact of poverty on the transition from adolescence into adulthood?
17. What are some of the special transitional problems of minority youth in American society?
Multiple Choice Questions - Please circle the correct answer.
1. Change in status and roles that occurs during adolescence is referred
to as:
a. social reform
b. social redefinition
c. social reinvention
d. social realignment
2. _________ believe that adolescence, as a developmental period, is
highly socially dependent and primarily determined by the broader
social context.
a. Inventionists
b. Creationists
c. Environmentalists
d. Behaviorists
3. A term used to denote the frivolous and lighthearted nature of the
period between childhood and adulthood is:
a. youth
b. apprentice
c. teenager
d. marginal man
4. The anthropologist that wrote extensively about the social transitions
of adolescence and authored "Patterns of Culture" was:
a. Glen Elder Jr.
b. Margaret Mead
c. Laurence Steinberg
d. Ruth Benedict
5. An example of a status offense is:
a. using cocaine
b. running away
c. speeding
d. stealing
6. Attending boarding school is an example of:
a. extrusion
b. gender segregation
c. placing out
d. home leaving
7. When compared with the social transition from adolescence to adulthood
in traditional cultures, this same transition for contemporary American
adolescents is ____ clear.
a. more
b. similarly
c. less
d. very
8. When the transition into adult roles is abrupt, the transition is
said to be:
a. nonlinear
b. skewed
c. transformational
d. discontinuous
9. In her study looking at transitions into adult roles, Margaret Marini
found that:
a. most males and females followed a similar pattern of transition
from school to work;
b. females were more likely to combine schooling with work and
family commitments;
c. males were more likely to combine schooling with work and
family commitments;
d. very few males and females combined schooling with work and
family commitments.
10. Which of the following statements is true about home leaving and
contemporary youth in industrialized countries?
a. Adolescents from single parent families tend to remain at
home longer than their counterparts from two parent families;
b. Adolescents are living with their parents longer than adolescents
30 years ago;
c. Adolescents in the United States are unique in their patterns
of home leaving;
d. Adolescents report that the current economic situation makes
it much easier to leave home early.
11. In his study of adolescence during the Great Depression, Elder found
that:
a. Adolescents from families experiencing economic hardship were
less likely to work than adolescents from economically stable families;
b. Adolescents from economically stable families were less likely
to work than adolescents from families experiencing economic hardship;
c. Adolescents generally were not able to work due to a shortage
of jobs so there were no differences based on economic circumstances;
d. Adolescents from all economic circumstances were far more
likely to be in school than in the work force.
12. In their study of home leaving and long-term developmental outcomes
(early marriage, more childbearing, etc.) in female adolescents, Stattin
& Magnusson found:
a. early home leaving was not related to later developmental
outcomes
b. early home leaving tended to lead to poorer developmental outcomes
c. early home leaving tended to lead to better developmental
outcomes
d. early home leaving was associated with poorer developmental
outcomes
13. By the year 2000, young people from minority backgrounds will comprise
____ percent of the youth population in the United States.
a. less than 10
b. 25
c. 33
d. 50
14. Who wrote The Truly Disadvantaged?
a. Glen Elder, Jr.
b. Margaret Mead
c. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
d. William Julius Wilson
15. The book The Truly Disadvantaged chronicles the effect of poverty
on:
a. young people in third world countries
b. young people that grew up during the Great Depression
c. young people growing up in the inner city
d. young people growing up in hunting and gathering cultures
16. The geographic region of the United States with the highest rate
of poverty among families with adolescents is:
a. the Northeast
b. the Midwest
c. the South
d. the West
17. The family arrangement in the United States with the highest rate
of poverty involving families with adolescents is:
a. a family headed by a married couple
b. a family headed by a female with no other adult
c. a family headed by a male with no other adult
d. a family headed by two unmarried adults
18. Researchers looking at the effect of growing up in a poor neighborhood
have found that:
a. growing up in a poor neighborhood is less problematic than
growing up in a poor family;
b. growing up in a poor neighborhood is no more problematic than
growing up in a rural area;
c. growing up in a poor neighborhood is more problematic than
growing up in a less impoverished community;
d. growing up in a poor neighborhood is not problematic for economically
stable families.
19. In Latino communities, adolescent girls have a coming-out celebration
known as:
a. fiesta
b. Bar Mitzvah
c. quinceanara
d. cumpleanos
20. The practice of brother-sister avoidance accomplishes:
a. separation of the young person from his or her parents
b. accentuation of physical and social differences between genders
c. passing on of cultural, historical and practical information
d. initiation of the genders to the socio-political world
21. Kurt Lewin coined the following term to denote the transitional
nature of the adolescent:
a. youth
b. apprentice
c. teenager
d. marginal man
22. Ruth Benedict believed:
a. the more discontinuous the transition from adolescence to
adulthood, the more stressful the experience would be;
b. the more continuous the transition from adolescence to adulthood,
the more stressful the experience would be;
c. the more discontinuous the transition from adolescence to
adulthood, the less stressful the experience would be;
d. the level of continuity of the transition from adolescence
to adulthood is not related to the level of stress experienced.
23. Comparing the clarity of the adolescent transition of contemporary
young people with American adolescents 100 years ago, we find that the
transition is ____ today.
a. clearer
b. less clear
c. similarly clear
d. impossible to compare to
24. Margaret Mead found that the emphasis in traditional cultures in
the socialization of young people is:
a. formal schooling
b. observational learning
c. reading
d. story telling
25. Recent estimates suggest that ____ percent of American young people
are at risk of not achieving a productive adult life.
a. less than 10
b. 25
c. 33
d. 50
True/False Questions - Mark each statement either True (T) or False (F).
1. Inventionists believe that society has created the biological and cognitive changes of adolescence.
2. The term teenager originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
3. An example of a status offense is stealing private property.
4. Separation of males and females during adolescence is a practice unique to traditional cultures.
5. Some traditional cultures practice scarification as part of the process of social redefinition.
6. The transition from adolescence into adulthood in contemporary American culture is clearer than the same transition in traditional cultures.
7. According to Kurt Lewin, a marginal man is someone who hangs on the fringes of social situations.
8. A discontinuous transition from adolescence into adulthood is characterized by a sudden and abrupt introduction into adult roles.
9. In her study, Marini found that about half of all men and women followed the same sequence (school->work->marriage->parenting) in their transition into adult roles.
10. Transitions into adulthood in traditional cultures are more continuous than transitions into contemporary American culture.
11. Some argue that the United States does very poorly with the school-to-work transition.
12. Glen Elder discovered that the Great Depression had very little effect on young people’s transition into adulthood.
13. Early home leaving in females tends to be associated with higher levels of educational attainment.
14. When two variables are correlated, it suggests that one variable has a causal effect on the other variable.
15. Currently in the United States, a larger percentage of young people are living with their parents into their midtwenties than in the late 1950s.
16. The term "the forgotten half" refers to young people that live in rural poverty as opposed to urban poverty.
17. Germany tends to use youth apprenticeships to transition adolescents from school to work.
18. The highest poverty rate is in the Northeastern region of the United States.
19. Researchers have found that growing up in an impoverished community has an adverse effect on an adolescent regardless of the economic situation of the youngster's family.
20. The book The Truly Disadvantaged focuses on the impact of concentrated urban poverty on the well-being of minority children.
21. “Age of majority” is a term used to refer to the average age at which most adolescents experience puberty.
22. Ruth Benedict believed that culture plays minimal role in the adolescent experience.
23. Contemporary adolescents have more opportunity to learn about and care for the young than adolescents did 100 years ago.
24. German youth tend to report that living with their parents into their mid-twenties is a problem.
25. Minority youngsters are more likely than White youngsters to grow up in poverty.
26. Magazines like Seventeen helped create the frivolous concept of the teenager.
27. Scholars are beginning to believe that the transition from adolescence into adulthood in the United States 100 years ago is less clear than the transition made by young people today.
28. The Bas Mitzvah is a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony for females.
29. The notion of brother-sister avoidance involves the importance of not being seen with an opposite-sex sibling in public places.
30. Adolescent legal status is typically a clear cut, straight forward issue in the American legal system.
Matching Questions - Choose the term that most accurately fits the description.
___ 1. believe that adolescence is a social
a. social redefinition
creation
b. age of majority
___ 2. term coined to denote the transitional
c. inventionists
nature of adolescence
d. child protectionists
___ 3. Jewish coming-of-age ceremony
e. teenager
___ 4. studied the experience of adolescence
f. youth
during the Great Depression
g. status offense
___ 5. denotes the explicitness of the
h. juvenile justice system
transition
i. Ruth Benedict
___ 6. truancy, running away from home
j. initiation ceremony
___ 7. Noncollege-bound youth
k. cohort
___ 8. structured work-based learning
l. quiceanara
___ 9. denotes the gradual nature of the
m. extrusion
transition
n. Bar Mitzvah
___ 10. separation of the young person from
o. marginal man
his or her parents
p. clarity (of social redefinition)
___ 11. Latino coming-of-age event
q. continuity (of social
___ 12. a group of people of similar age and redefinition)
experiences
r. youth apprenticeship
___ 13. criminal justice system that applies to
s. Glen Elder, Jr.
children and adolescents
t. the forgotten half
___ 14. wrote Patterns of Culture
___ 15. frivolous and lighthearted term for an
adolescent
___ 16. age of legal status
___ 17. change in status and roles
___ 18. concerned about the moral degeneracy
of industrialization
___ 19. used to denote someone between
adolescence and adulthood
___ 20. marks the beginning of the transition
into adulthood
Answer Key
Multiple Choice Questions
1. b 11. b 21. d
2. a 12. d 22. a
3. c 13. c 23. a
4. d 14. d 24. b
5. b 15. c 25. b
6. a 16. c
7. c 17. b
8. d 18. c
9. c 19. c
10. b 20. b
True/False Questions
1. F 11. T 21. F
2. T 12. F 22. F
3. F 13. F 23. F
4. F 14. F 24. T
5. T 15. T 25. T
6. F 16. F 26. T
7. F 17. T 27. T
8. T 18. F 28. T
9. T 19. T 29. F
10. T 20. T 30. F
Matching Questions
1. c 11. l
2. o 12. k
3. n 13. h
4. s 14. i
5. p 15. e
6. g 16. b
7. t 17. a
8. r 18. d
9. q 19. f
10. m 20. j