Changes That Occur During Adolescence and Middle Childhood - Essay Example

In the stages covering middle childhood and adolescence, development would be expressed over physical, cognitive, and socioemotional domains.

Changes that Occur during Adolescence and Middle Childhood

The adolescence and middle childhood stages of development present complex processes involving sexual maturation. Physically, females would have their breasts begin to grow, hips expand and pubic hair begins to grow. They would begin menstruation which according to Kail and Cavanaugh (2013) marks the physical ability of such persons to procreate. Just like the males, they would grow taller. The males would develop not just pubic but also facial hair as their voices deepen and begin to experience sperm-producing ejaculations, which similarly indicate their procreation abilities.

Another domain of development experienced at this stage would be cognitive, which describes the human perception of the world and their dealing with issues such as thinking, memory, and decision-making (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). During middle childhood, thoughts about the world transform from being simplistic to concrete with subjects involved in logical thinking. Adolescents would have their cognitive judgments mostly overridden by impulses and feelings due to the rapid biological and physical changes experienced.

Finally, looking at how humans at this stage would handle relationships, social situations, emotions, and societal roles, it would be important to analyze socioemotional changes. According to Kail and Cavanaugh (2013), middle childhood would mostly encompass transition from being oriented to the family to peer orientation which would continue into adulthood. Adolescents would be keen on sexuality, conflict and resolution, identity, and internal stability. While the cognitive and physical development domains would be universal across the globe, the socioemotional domain would be pegged on cultural practices.

Effect of Family Dynamics on Development during Adolescence and Middle Childhood

The family creates the foundational reality for adolescents as they conform to family culture (Bell, L. & Bell, D., 2005). The meanings, expectations, and thought patterns pervade the entire life of such persons. Open caregiving from parents results in internal working models which make them open and secure in their later lives. Security and support cause optimism. Rathus (2010) notes that higher parental support levels would cause higher social competence, self-esteem, better academic achievement, and better psychological adjustment. While most parents would be more focused on meeting the attachment needs of their children, adolescents would be more focused on autonomy, a situation giving rise to individuation. Autonomy, such as that provided by a dysfunctional family, offers a non-shared environment that causes the children to develop raw and disrespectful behavior. But Veronneau and Dishion (2010) argue that individuation would increase the assertion of ideas, with parents ensuring acknowledgment of individuality and comfort with each others’ differences.

Additional Pressures during Adolescence Compared to Middle Childhood

With growth and development towards middle childhood, there would be experiences of interaction and acceptance among peers. Friendship being an important development at this stage would fulfill the need for intimacy, companionship, community, and acceptance. Come adolescence, the child would be more focused on themselves and other people’s perception of who they are, referred to by Veronneau and Dishion (2010) as adolescent egocentrism. These changes result in conflict between the need for independence and dependence on others thus imposing varied pressures on the adolescent including low motivation, sexuality, dating, rebellion, pregnancies, yielding to peer pressure, and drug abuse among others. The need to fit within certain groups would cause boys to have sex due to peer influence and girls being skinny through whatever method.

Peer Influence

The nature of children as blank tablets (Veronneau & Dishion, 2010) who acquire character traits through experience should be appreciated. A climate that allows for both social and moral growth would foster peer interaction. The stage spanning middle childhood to adolescence would have concerns about acceptance among their peer groups. Indeed, these peer groups provide positive experiences for these persons even though limited research has been conducted to ascertain this. According to Veronneau and Dishion (2010), marginalized and rejected adolescents would remain in school and avoid delinquent behavior if they have friends that accept and support them and additionally offer a positive model to counteract affiliation associated with antisocial peer groups and peer rejection.

The majority of researchers however document the negative impacts that result from peer influence. According to Kail and Cavanaugh (2013), selection and socialization occur in tandem creating a norm in deviant behavior. Rejection from a peer group could induce adolescents to deviant groups which would promote problematic behavior in the context of interacting with the deviant friends. An important aspect of peer experience would be the extent to which one would be liked by peers. Being liked could have some risk of pushing members of such peer groups to engage in problem behaviors. Generally, both peer rejection and acceptance during this stage of human development could negatively impact the involved persons.