Connotation of Adult Development - Essay Example

Adult Developement...... Psychology/Social Sciences 2  Adulthood for most of us is the time to realize our dreams and aspirations. A person’s adulthood is influenced by a number of factors including family status, social orientation and also adolescence status. The transition from adolescence to adulthood is most of the times the greatest challenge for an individual because adulthood brings a complete different picture of the world to an individual. It includes change in social roles and expectations. In the beginning it becomes difficult for an individual to accept the challenges. On the other hand it should also be mentioned that adulthood has its own excitements as it gives license to many such things, which we did not have, access to as adolescents. Adulthood is of prime significance to us because it is the beginning of professional life, marriage, first child or independent residence. In the article “Adulthood The time you get serious about the rest of your life’” Robyn Hartley includes a lot of opinion from young adults about the connotation of adulthood to them. The author has said in his article that adulthood is a journey towards psychological and social development where the individual has achieved an identity of him and her and bears a social responsibility and is purposeful. The various opinions from young adults were that adulthood is a time of responsibility of one’s own, others, social responsibility and also financial responsibility. For many of them, adulthood meant being independent and free, end of all rules and regulations from schools and parents. Some of the adults felt that being adult was to be wise and knowing ones limitations and some felt that it was the time of facing challenges. Many of them on the other hand felt that adulthood had sometimes, negative aspects like losing of spontaneity and good times. It also meant uncertainty and getting to know the bad sides of life. Hartley concludes the article saying that the study threw light on both the ups and downs of responsibility and it primarily showed that adults viewed adulthood as a time of taking responsibility and it also showed that many of the adults were reluctant to part with the innocence of their childhood.( Hartley, 19991) The article has rightly given attributions about adulthood from young adults but the study is mainly concentrated only on twenty three year old adults and it does not include a cross-section of age; as a result the data obtained from the result may become directed to one side only. Moreover the study includes just mere responses from the twenty three year old adults but do not incorporate any explanations from their side. It actually lacks a deep probing into their thought process. It would have been of more worth if it included why they felt certain things about adulthood. Examples from life of respondents are also not present in the study which would have assisted us in understanding the aspects of adulthood in a better manner. At the same time it is very true that the study helps us to have an idea about what is adulthood and what are the aspects involved with it. The study has also shown that various adults had responded differently regarding their idea of adulthood similarly in the book, “The Journey of Adulthood” the authors have said that no two adult life are the same. Every adult faces his or her life differently and there are a lot of twists and turns in an adult life as the speaker of the book had said. As adults it may happen that we take a long time to locate our right place in the society and unless we are able to find our true sphere it is impossible that we are happy and it also affects our social as well as our family life. We have got such evidences clearly from our book. (Bjorklund and Bee, 2007)  Adult life involves entry of adults into professional life and it is of prime importance because it gives an adult financial security which in turn helps him or her to carry the financial responsibility towards his family and helps him to fulfill his or her own aspirations as an adult life; therefore a stable professional status is something which every adult wants. In the article “Changing transition to adulthood in urban Burkina Faso”, the authors Calves, Emmanuele A, Kobiane, Francois J, Martel and Edith have said that during the economic recession of the 1990s in Burkina Faso a sub-Saharan African country the employment opportunities had become almost non-existent and as a result most of the young adults remained without employment. Due to this a lot of changes came about in the life of the people. The marriage age of the youths postponed because they did not have the means to support a family of their own, as a result their age of giving birth to children had also increased. This led to a growing trend of pre-marital birth. Not only these due to such a poor economic conditions most of the youths could not realize the essential attributions of adulthood like being independent and living on their own. They still remained dependant on their parents for monetary aids. Neither could they realize their own aspirations as an adult individual. The article has also talked about the fact that the economic stagnation in Burkina Faso has also prompted an educational crisis where more number of youths is dropping out of schools due to the rising costs of school. (Calves, Emmanuele A, Kobiane, Francois J, Martel and Edith, 2007). This article has very rightly pointed out that proper employment is of much importance to an adult. A lot of things of the social life including family are very much dependant on the financial position of the individual. Moreover things such as future prospects are definitely co-related to employment opportunities. As we have seen that the article has concluded saying that the “economic crisis” has prompted an “educational crisis” from this we can understand that if the youths drop out of school then their opportunity to get involved in the organized sector gets bleak. Therefore we can say that a proper work status of an adult contributes to his or her psychological as well as social well-being. He or she is able to enjoy a kind of dignity in the society. As adults it is very important that we are in the right kind of job unless we are in the kind of job we like it becomes very difficult for us to concentrate on all other issues. The speaker reflects the same tone in the book when she says that her life had become mundane when she was engaged in the traditional academic job. She had become a lot happier when she engaged herself in the job community job. She felt that her life had become simpler and she could discover herself to a large extent. So it remains very clear to us that being in the right profession solves a number of our problems very easily and we can find happiness for ourselves. Therefore the work space of an adult individual plays an important role in shaping his identity as an individual because the work we do is an expression of our creativity. (Bjorklund and Bee, 2007).      Reference: 1. Bjorklund B and Bee H, February 11, 2007, “A Journey of Adulthood” Prentice Hall. 2. Calves, Emmanuele A, Kobiane, Francois J, Martel and Edith, 22nd March, 2007, Changing transition to adulthood in urban Burkina Faso, available at http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-31343104_ITM, (accessed on 06/05/2009). 3. Hartley R, 30 December 1991, ““Adulthood The time you get serious about the rest of your life’” Australian Institute of Family Studies, available at http://aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm1/fm30/rh.html, (accessed on 06/05/2009).   Read More

 

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