©2001 Allyn & Bacon
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Chapter 16: Emotional and Social Development in Adolescence
Erikson's stage of identity versus identity confusion recognizes the formation of a coherent set of values and life plans as the major personality achievement of adolescence. An organized self-concept and a more differentiated sense of self-esteem prepare the young person for constructing an identity. Adolescents vary in their degree of progress toward developing a mature identity. Identity achievement and moratorium are adaptive statuses associated with positive personality characteristics, parents who offer a "secure base" from which teenagers can confidently move out into the wider world, and schools and communities offering rich and varied opportunities for exploration. Teenagers who remain in identity foreclosure or identity confusion tend to have adjustment difficulties.
Piaget's theory of moral development served as the inspiration for Kohlberg's expanded cognitive-developmental perspective. According to Kohlberg, from late childhood into adulthood, morality changes from concrete, externally controlled reasoning to more abstract, principled justifications for moral choices. Although Kohlberg's theory emphasizes a "masculine" morality of justice rather than a "feminine" morality of care, it does not underestimate the moral maturity of females. A broad range of experiences, including personality, family, school, peer, and cultural factors, fosters moral development. As individuals advance through Kohlberg's stages, moral reasoning becomes better related to behavior.
Biological, social, and cognitive forces combine to make early adolescence a period of gender intensification. Over the adolescent years, relationships with parents and siblings change as teenagers strive to establish a healthy balance between family connection and separation. As adolescents spend more time with peers, intimacy and loyalty become central features of friendship. Adolescent peer groups are organized into tightly knit groups called cliques. Sometimes several cliques with similar values form a crowd, which grants the adolescent an identity within the larger social structure of the school. Although dating relationships increase in intimacy with age, they lag behind same-sex friendships. Peer pressure rises in adolescence, but most teenagers do not blindly conform to the dictates of agemates.
Depression is the most common psychological problem of the teenage years, resulting from a diverse combination of biological and environmental factors. When it is severe, it often leads to suicidal thoughts. The suicide rate increases dramatically at adolescence. Although many teenagers become involved in some delinquent activity, only a few are serious and repeat offenders. Personal, family, school, peer, and neighborhood factors are related to delinquency.
©2001 Allyn & Bacon |