Adolescent Psychological Behavior - Essay Example

?Adolescent Psychological Behavior (Your specialization or program) and number of the (This quarter and year at Capella) (Your e-mail address) (Your instructor's name) Adolescent Psychosocial Development Introduction Every human being goes through various stages in his development. These stages of development all impact on the development milestones for each patient. The human needs for development set that person apart into the next stage of growth. This paper shall discuss and explore the adolescent stage of development, particularly from ages 13 to 15 years. An informational interview with a lifespan development professional shall first be carried out. For purposes of this study, Ms. Liza Lozano shall be interviewed. Ms. Lozano received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Wyoming and her Masters in Community Counseling from Chardon State College. She also worked for the Department of Family Services as a social worker before she became a partner at the Counseling Center in Gillette, Wyoming. She is an ideal candidate for this study because of her experience in counseling adolescents, and because of her background in Psychology. I met Ms. Lozano when we were both working at the Department of Family Services; and we have remained close acquaintances for over three years now. An extensive research pertaining to the adolescent stage shall then be conducted, integrating the knowledge and information gained from Ms. Lozano. This paper shall integrate the informational interview and research, describing how such knowledge shall now be applied to my career and personal life. It shall first provide a synopsis of the lifespan professional interview, and then establish a literature review of the topic. It shall also integrate the interview with selected research, and lastly provide a conclusion, including a discussion on how I would apply what I have learned in this assignment in my chosen profession. All in all, these details would help provide clarity to the current subject matter. Synopsis of interview Mrs. Lozano found that the biggest psychosocial changes she sees in this age group would be the emotional attachment adolescent’s harbor towards peer both negatively and positively. “I see many teens talk about how much one of their friends hurt them with something as irrelevant as not returning a text. A whole new idea forms in their heads that their peers are angry at them, are enjoying activities without them or that they may have somehow angered them. Social acceptance is needed continuously for some who worry about that status.” L.Lozano, personal communication, August 2011). Mrs. Lozano commented that the pressures from peers that she sees having the greatest impact on personal growth would be recreational drug use. “I see many teens develop a drug problem by simply associating with other peers. Many of them admit to being scared to try drugs and alcohol but now have a sort of simplistic feeling about their situation. Almost like the choices they have made are what they are and nothing more. Again, I see that search for a sense of power where they know their parents cannot control them the way they want to and the social status they must be receiving for acting in such a way. I’ve seen many teens feel distress that they have come to a certain point where they realize ‘okay, I do drugs. Now what do I do?’ They are looking for a way out. But a way out might mean that they would no longer be socially acceptable to the peers they feel the closest to.”( L.Lozano, personal communication, August 2011). When I asked Mrs. Lozano about the emphasis on sexuality in this age, she expressed that “I was shocked at first at how little many teens view the value of their body and integrity. When many of them talk to me about oral sex, they express their feeling about it in much the same way you or I may talk of a hug or a kiss. They do not feel that it crosses the line into actual ‘sex’ because they are not having actual intercourse. I see many of the teens with emotional problems as also the same ones who act indifferent towards sex. In both girls and boys, I see a rebellious attitude toward authority and a sense of achievement if they are able to shock someone with their sexual experiences. “(L.Lozano, personal communication, August 2011). When it comes to what impacts identity, Mrs. Lozano felt the greatest influence was the teens overall feeling of their own physical appearance. “Many times, I see teens dress and try to be and present themselves as someone else. The struggle to appear as another is difficult for their parents to comprehend. Parents say things like, ‘she isn’t like this’. She was a different person before or he use to like these sorts of things a year ago. Being physically in line with everyone else is important. Dressing like your peers, looking like your peers, it all ties together. If I were to say what another influence would be it would have to be social status and the financial status of your family. There is a clear division over who has what and how much of it do they have. Not to alarm parents, but I do feel that teens pay very close attention to the money situation of their household.” (L.Lozano, personal communication, August 2011). Mrs. Lozano felt that the parent-child relationship for this age group was half and half. “Most of the teens I see have a very hostile relationship with their parents. The parents want to understand why their teen’s behavior has changed and at the same time, the teen doesn’t want the parent to know anything. The parents have become less important in these teens eyes. The parent feels rejected and they kind of are. The teens are trying new behaviors and wanting independence but want it at a fast pace. They want the experience now but don’t want to worry about the consequences, ever. The parents want to feel they still have control and maybe even some influence. And, yes I’m talking about the teens that I see, and not the entire teen population of Gillette. What I’m expressing is that group who resent the restrictions on what they feel are earned good times. Sometimes, it’s a clash of parenting styles mixed with personalities.” L.Lozano, personal communication, August 2011). To go along with the parent child relationship, Mrs. Lozano commented that, “Many teens I meet with are so much more loyal towards friendship relationships than family relationships. The problem is that I think parents have set them up this way. They do not take an active interest in most of their children’s friends or do not know the families of their children’s friends. Also, if the parent does not keep the lines of communication open, what happens the majority of the time is teens turn to someone who will listen. The biggest issue parent’s and their kids mention is that they don’t talk anymore” (L.Lozano, personal communication, August 2011). When I asked her what she felt were the biggest differences in behavior among girls and boys, Lisa stated, “I see the greatest fluctuation in behavior as being boys get into more legal trouble than girls. Many times the illegal actions come from their reckless behavior. Some of their parents will admit that they have treated illegal behavior like it is not a big deal. What I see more of though, is a first offender who is genuinely interested in not repeating the behavior again. Many times the behavior that got them in trouble came about during a time where they were feeling depressed or unhappy with something else within their life. I have seen girls get into trouble with the law but the frequency is less than with boys” (L.Lozano, personal communication, August 2011). Literature review on the topic The adolescence stage is a very distinct stage in a person’s development. Original theorists like Hall (as cited by Ogena, 2004) discuss that human beings undergo various stages of development, the first stage being that of infancy (from birth to age 4), childhood (from 4 to 8 years), youth (from 8 to 12 years, adolescence (from 12 to mid-20s, and maturity. Adolescence was labeled by these theorists as a very stormy and stressful period. Many contemporary theorists still support Hall’s theories because they find these beliefs preferred explanations to camouflage their difficulties in allowing their adolescent children independence (Ogena, 2004). The media also seems to promote this view of the adolescents through television shows with these shows often generalizing the adolescents as manifesting similar behavior. The parents, peers, teachers, and the society in general pressure many adolescents to grow up and mature. The emotional adversities and challenges which adolescents encounter is however very much spread out, they do not occur at the same time. Instead, adolescents handle one stressful event, and then after resolving it, they handle another (Ogena, 2004). The peak ages for these encounters are different, and some of these events may not peak all at the same time. Adolescence may be difficult for some, and relatively normal for others. It represents various changes in human development (Dmitrieva, et.al., 2004). Among communities which apply rites of passage, such rite signals the end of childhood and the beginning of their adulthood (Ogena, 2004). Gender differences may also represent differences in expectations, with male and female expectations which vary from each other. Young female adolescents are expected to mature earlier than male teens – even with those of the same age. Some teens are also said to mature earlier or later than their counterparts, and the timing of their maturation affects their social relationships with their parents, as well as their peers and teachers (Ogena, 2004). Those who may mature early are those who may have had unreasonable demands placed on them from a very early age – atleast more than the demands placed on their age mates. Sexuality is one of the most common stressors for adolescents as this stage marks the manifestation of sexual differences. The Oedipal complex also reoccurs and must be resolved via sexual attraction to the opposite sex. Sexual drives also surfaces at this stage, and it often causes much anxiety and stress for the teens (Ogena, 2004). Some teens may act on such drives, and others may choose to ignore such drives and the opposite sex altogether. They may also use defense mechanisms and avoid the opposite gender altogether; and as a result, they may opt for friendly relations, or even avoid dating. They may also minimize their anxiety in relation to their sexual drive and instead, opt to support immediate needs (Ogena, 2004). However, the constant use of such defense mechanisms may cause unstable relationships which suppress their personal growth and distance them from other people. In terms of sexual and biological growth and development, adolescence is classified into five stages. The latency stage is the stage where the instincts are suppressed, including one’s sex drive. The early adolescent stage is when the teen’s relationship with his peers is improved (Ogena, 2004). The adolescent stage is when love relationships usually develop. The late adolescent stage is when the teen would start to wonder about his identity. Finally, the post-adolescent stage is when the teen starts to include adult roles in his life (Ogena, 2004). The early adolescent stage is usually the stage which is most problematic to parents because it is the stage when the teen usually starts to develop values which are in contrast to his parents. In effect, many adolescents may start to act out or rebel at this stage. The parent is no longer viewed as the absolute correct authority in their lives (Ogena, 2004). During the late adolescent stage, the teen’s self-esteem is more stable, and his sexual identity is manifested, also, the stable personality of the person more or less emerges. The sexual development of adolescents reaches its peak at this stage, and Ms. Lozano has clearly unveiled the extent of sexual maturity of these adolescents through the casual way they can discuss oral sex and even sexual intercourse. Theorist Erik Erikson was one of the first theorists to discuss lifespan development away from Freud’s psychoanalytic discussion (Steinberg, 2001). Erikson stressed on the importance of ego identity, as well as a person’s ego identity, including the cultural factors affecting development. Erikson viewed development as a series of psychological and social changes which are mostly biologically established (Steinberg, 2001). Related to the different stages of development as set forth by Erikson are a challenge or a crisis, and these are psychosocial activities which are encountered by the person. Each challenge includes conflicts with two possible turnouts. In the adolescent stage, Erikson believes that there is an interruption in the identity of the teen during the adolescent stage, and such interruption is impacted by physical and social elements which prompt adolescents to consider other possibilities. Erikson also establishes that “developing a vocational identity and a personal philosophy” (Ogena, 2004) was important in providing the teenager with a basis for handling life’s challenges. Without such development, the teenager may not be able to establish clear and appropriate sense of self; this may cause self-doubt, role confusion, and some self-destructive acts. Ms. Lozano mentions some of these self-destructive acts, as well as acts which portray conduct disorders as manifestations of role confusion and self-doubt. Teenage boys seem to get in more legal trouble than girls, and because of parents’ not taking these legal troubles seriously, repeat incidents of these troubles may sometimes be seen. In the adolescent stage, most individuals start to incorporate and combine the different roles he conducts in constructive means. In order to prepare for the adult roles, there are variations in teenage experiences in clearing various development activities (Ogena, 2004). The developmental demands include skills and attitudes which individuals must gain at different stages in their life in order to adjust to the difficult tasks which they must face. These skills are gained with maturation and a sense of social fulfillment, including personal success (Ogena, 2005). Without gaining such success, maladjustments, and anxiety can become prominent. Discussions by Havighurst (as cited by Ogena, 2004) points out that the developmental challenges of each stage follow a certain sequence with each task being a prerequisite of the next. The most favorable time for the mastering of each developmental task is mostly physiologically based. The adolescent has nine developmental tasks: accepting one’s physical appearance in terms of male and female sex roles; developing relations with fellow adolescents of both genders; gaining emotional independence from parents; gaining assurance in future economical independence; preparing for a career and finding work; establishing cognitive and analytical skills needed to secure social success; comprehending and securing socially responsible qualities; making preparations for marriage; and gaining values which fit the scientific realm of thought (Ogena, 2004). Cripps and Zyromski (2009) discusses that adolescents are constantly evolving and changing in the physical, as well as the mental and emotional sense. As they get involved with their environment and the world in general, they also seek independence from their parents and belongingness among their peers (Santrock, 2004). Teenagers also want to be treated as adults who can make their own decisions; and they also want to be a part of a bigger collective. As a result, many of these teenagers seek support from their parents, but they seem to exhibit a challenging attitude against their parents’ displays of support. In the end, the presence or absence of parents’ support is a determinant in the personal as well as the professional development of these adolescents. Research establishes that the involvement of parents in schools impacts significantly on the success of students (Harris and Goodall, 2008). But the kinds of participation and the act of educating patients on the most appropriate kinds of involvement in the middle school years have gotten much attention from researchers. One of these areas of research which has gained attention from the public is the adolescent and the parent relationship (Cripps and Zyromski, 2009). This relationship between the parent and the adolescent is founded on two realities. The first one is that the home environment is the place where the teenagers are under the control of their parents. Much later, such adolescents seek a different reality – through their peers, setting themselves apart from their parents (Cripps and Zyromski, 2009). Adolescents start establishing their identity by considering the reactions as seen by important individuals in their lives. The personal activities which arise from parent-adolescent interactions are the primary source which initiates the cycle of self-evaluation among adolescents and their interaction with others (Cripps and Zyromski, 2009). In effect, the kind of relationship they get to experience with their parents is one which eclipses the way they perceive themselves and the quality of relationships they would likely enjoy with their peers. Lozano was able to review with the teens the nature of their relationship with their parents and Lozano was able to note how this relationship is often stormy. Teens feel that their parents place many restrictions on their social life and activities; and parents are exasperated with their children and their various activities. The adolescents feel like they are not understood by their parents, and as a result, they often end up having better relationships with their friends rather than their parents. In a paper by Bonetti (2009), the author built on the study by Valkenburg and Peter in order to understand the link between loneliness and anxiety with adolescents’ and children’s online communication. All in all, the study established that those who were found to be lonely considered patterns of behavior which was different from those who did not report any loneliness. Specifically, those who are lonely are most likely to satisfy their needs of self-disclosure and social interactions upon which their identity is founded on. In other words, the internet allows them to create and manage their developmental issues (Subrahmanyam, Smahel, and Greenfield, 2006). Internet communication has become a necessary part of adolescent’s and children’s lives, but its use have not emerged as a means of improving relationships or improving satisfaction in relationships. Moreover, online technology is constantly evolving and what may apply now may not anymore be true in the future. The importance of staying connected with their peers and in their social life is highly important to teens. Ms. Lozano also saw this in her interviews with these teens being emotionally invested in simple text messages or social network activities. In some instances, friends are considered as close, even closer than family to the adolescent. The problem is that sometimes, friend’s influence on the adolescent can sometimes be negative and yet, the adolescent would still feel pressured to fit in with his peers and consequently follow their lead. This can lead them to drug use, smoking, and even alcohol use. Allen, et.al., (2007) discuss that the extent to which fathers undertake efforts to secure positive relationships in relation to the use of harsh words were positively related to attachment security. Such results grow and increase reported findings with mothers. They also suggest that adolescent/adult security as a condition of autonomy and of valuing attachment are very much interrelated to the ability to secure relatedness within autonomous activities in social relations (Allen, et.al., 2003). It is important to note that the discussion in the adult attachment interview is not related to disagreement, and the autonomy being considered establishes the capability of thinking autonomously in relation to attachment relationships. Very much like the previous studies on mothers, behaviors were considered to be the sustaining elements to the relationships; it was not the direct manifestation of disagreements which led to attachment security (Allen, et.al., 2003). The relationship between adolescent feelings of insecurity and the father’s use of harsh tactics in resolving conflicts is very much related to findings of early school-age children being in extremely harsh conflict management situations and attachment insecurity (Allen, et.al., 2003). This study is the first to consider the impact of harsh physical conflict resolution in attachment among adolescents. These techniques of resolution cause fear and intimidation and they prevent the adolescents from reviewing autonomously the character of their experiences with attachment, or else such reflections would cause conclusions which cause conflicts with their fathers (Allen, et.al., 2003). On the other hand, adolescent insecurity, by itself, establishes conditions which create conflicts; other factors may cause the use of harsh manifestations of conflicts – over time, such insecurity may arise from such conflicts (Allen, et.al., 2003). Moreover, since incidents of harsh conflict tactics are founded on adolescent recall, it may be possible for the findings obtained to indicate insecure adolescents choosing to focus on their harsh physical punishments during their adolescent years. Arseth, et.al. (2009) discusses that the construct of attachment, from the attachment/object relations theory, pertaining to relationships as the basis of personality structure have been considered for a long time. This study revealed that the overall interrelatedness between identity status and attachment styles were not wholly significant. The most significant links were mainly for the achieved identity status with secure attachment (Arseth, et.al., 2009). The results also suggested a relationship between attachment styles and identity status. The impact of the effects was in the foreseen directions for the diffused identity status. The achieved identity status was very much linked in with the secure attachment style and was not in any way related with the insecure attachment styles (Arseth, et.al., 2009). The identity of adolescents is also partly defined by physical appearance. Lozano mentions also that physically fitting the standards for adolescents is an important part of the identity of teens. Lozano points out that teens seem to judge who can join in their social grouping based on the appearance of the potential members. For which reason, we see jocks bring friends with fellow jocks, cheerleaders also joining cheerleaders, smart geeky teens in one group, and the overweight individuals also in one group. These “looks” seem to define the identity of these adolescents and they treat each other accordingly based on such appearances. Steinberg and Morris, (2001) discuss that the knowledge of psychological development and overall functions during adolescence have expanded at a fast pace in the 1990s. Although the focus of recent studies includes conduct issues, adolescent-parent relations, and peer relations, new studies have reshaped the research scene. Compared with studies carried out before the mid 1980s, the more recent research has been more contextual and has recognized the relationship between genes and the environment (Steinberg and Morris, 2001). Even as changes in perspectives are to be expected, it is important to consider research on the psychological evolution of adolescents. There is now limited research on identity and intimacy which used to be crucial topics in research. Conclusion The discussions above set forth that adolescents go through various emotional and behavioral changes. Such changes and the coping strategies which are part of the adolescents’ growth and development often cause upheavals in a person’s life. It can also impact on his self-esteem, making him insecure and unable to form long-lasting relationships as an adult. The discussions above also establish that harsh conflict tactics impact on a person’s overall demeanor, in terms of his relationship with other people, and his relationship with his parents. Such parental and adolescent relationships reach an impasse during these years and the results of such relationship eventually impacts on his future behavior. Works Cited Allen, J., Porter, M., & McFarland, C. (2007). The Relation of Attachment Security to Adolescents’ Paternal and Peer Relationships, Depression, and Externalizing Behavior. Child Dev., volume 78(4): pp. 1222–1239. Arseth, A., Kroger, J., Martinussen, M. (2009). Meta-Analytic Studies of Identity Status and the Relational Issues of Attachment and Intimacy. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, volume 9: pp. 1–32. Bonetti, L. (2009). The relationship of loneliness and social anxiety with children’s and adolescent’s online communication. Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved 13 September 2011 from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/29140/1/Luigi_Bonetti_Thesis.pdf Cripps, K. & Zyromski, B. (2009). Adolescents’ Psychological Well-Being and Perceived Parental Involvement: Implications for Parental Involvement in Middle Schools. RMLE Online, volume 33(4), pp. 1-13. Dmitrieva, J., Chen, C., Greenberger, E., & Gil-Rivas, V. (2004). Family relationships and adolescent psychosocial outcomes: Converging findings from eastern and western cultures. Journal of Research on Adolescence, volume 14, pp. 425–447 Harris, A., & Goodall, J. (2008). Do parents know they matter? Engaging all parents in learning. Educational Research, volume 50, pp. 277–289. Ogena, N. (2004). A Development Concept of Adolescence: The Case of Adolescents in the Philippines. Child Protection. Retrieved 13 September 2011 from http://www.childprotection.org.ph/monthlyfeatures/jan2k5b.pdf Steinberg, L. & Morris, A. (2001). Adolescent development. Annu. Rev. Psychol., volume 52: pp. 83–110. Santrock, J. W. (2004). Life-span development (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Steinberg, L. (2001). We know some things: parent-adolescent relationships in retrospect and prospect. Journal of Research and Adolescence, volume 11(1), pp. 1-19. Subramahnyam, K., Smahel, D. & Greenfield, P. (2006). Connecting developmental constructions to the internet: identity presentation and sexual exploration in online teen chat rooms. Developmental Psychology, volume 42, pp. 395-406. Read More