Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Adolescents: Human Growth Development

Good Essays
1115 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Adolescents: Human Growth Development
Adolescent Years
Allison Cain
Northeast Texas Community College

PSYCH 2314: Human Growth & Development
Professor Ubinger
October 10, 2012

Adolescent Development Adolescent years are the years you find yourself; you make decisions and encounter experiences from those decisions that will be what ultimately determines who you are; your self-definition. You become more and more independent of your family and more dependent on your peers, having more close trusting relationships with friends than before. These relationships with your peers is what will get you through your adolescent years, sharing similar feelings and situations; relying on their support and understanding more so than your family. However family still maintains an important role in most adolescents’ lives, there is an incomparable sense of understanding with your peers. I was able to get to know a young man; his name, as well as some personal, descriptive details has been changed for anonymity as he was very open and shared some very intimate feelings and situations he has faced, without hesitation. For the purpose of this observation experiment, we will call him Jacob. Jacob is a seventeen year old senior at Hughes Springs High School in Hughes Springs, Texas. Jacob is six foot two and weighs a hundred and eighty three pounds, with an athletic build; very active in football, basketball and cross country track. Residing with his mother and adoptive stepfather, he plans to apply to Texas Tech University; with a long-term goal of one day becoming an off shore rig welder. During adolescent years adolescents face the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage in Erikson’s Theory of Development; Erikson believed that it is in this stage that adolescents try to answer life questions of who they are and what their place in the world is; yearning to have a sense of belonging and purpose. Jacob said it has taken him a while to answer the question “Who is Jacob?” he has faced and overcome many obstacles along the way to be able to answer that question, though he says he is still working on dealing with some things. (Development through the Lifespan. Laura E. Berk, pg.17) Jacob is a strong individual with high self-esteem and has mapped out a plan for his future with many short term goals leading up his career goal of an offshore welder; though mapping out his plan didn’t come easy. Jacob has faced some turmoil and some bad decisions in life that could have compromised him fulfilling his goals. He has suffered from depression after two great losses in his life, Jacob’s father, Steve, was a Staff Sargent in the United States Army and served as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Specialist, on his third tour of Afghanistan Robert lost his life. Jacob was unsure how to cope with the loss of his father, he withdrew from everyone socially and emotionally, including his family; but he says it was his close friendships that pulled him through his depression. Once unable to walk past his father’s picture in a frame without being overcome with many emotions ranging from pain, to sadness to anger, he is now able to talk about his father and although James, his stepfather, can never replace his father Jacob says he is lucky to have James in his life. The friends that got him through the loss of his father were also the ones that pulled him through when his friend of sixteen years was killed in a head-on collision this past summer a month before senior year started. Amber and Jacob grew up together and attended school from Kindergarten through high school, until her life was cut short upon leaving a party. Jacob says regrets from that night still haunt him, Amber gave into peer pressure and drank the night she died; although Jacob tried to keep her from leaving she assured him she was fine and left. He says that the one thing he learned about himself from losing his friend is that peer pressure can be even more dangerous than he thought and he will forever stand up for what he knows his right and if he loses friends over not caving to peer pressure then so be it, but he won’t lose his life. I asked him if he was part of a click and he said that although the beginning of his high school years most of his friends in his group all shared the same interests they are beginning to have their own personal interests and morals but are all still fairly close. Jacob say he has always heard the phrase, step out of the box and now as he is older watching his older sister struggle as a single mother he tends to step out of the box more often. Kady is twenty three and the single mother of an eight year old little girl, watching her give up on her dreams and drop out of high school was hard because his big sister was his rock and role model. He almost followed in his sister’s footsteps when his girlfriend of two years and he decided to take it to a sexual level and she became pregnant, but miscarried. Sixty percent of U.S. inner-city high school students to not graduate, he says he almost became one or that sixty percent and it scared him. He knew he wasn’t ready for that type of commitment and although it was hard to experience, he learned a hard lesson that he is reminded of daily. I inquired about contraceptives after he shared his story, he smirked and said no we don’t use them, we just don’t do it. Twenty percent of sexually active teenagers are at risk for unplanned pregnancies because they do not use contraceptives and with the pregnancy rates among U.S. teenagers ages fifteen to nineteen being at seventy percent, he says he can wait. (Development through the Lifespan. Laura E. Berk,) Jacob shared with me a lot of his story and although each adolescent is different as are their situations, each adolescent faces challenges and obstacles along their path of finding out who they are. Peer pressure, unplanned pregnancies and irrational decision making can affect longterm who a person becomes. Jacob seems to have good long and short term goals and has absorbed a lot from his past that keeps reminding him to stay steady on his path. I enjoyed this project very much and enjoyed that Jacob shared so many intimate details about his life experiences.

CDC Stature/Weight Percentile Chart

References
Textbooks:
Berk, Laura E. (2010), Fifth Edition Development Through the Lifespan Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon Publishing, Pearson Education, Inc

Online/ Electronic Sources:

References: Textbooks: Berk, Laura E. (2010), Fifth Edition Development Through the Lifespan Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon Publishing, Pearson Education, Inc Online/ Electronic Sources:

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Adolescent Self Portrait

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of psychological development, he writes about the adolescent going through the crisis of identity versus role confusion. This is Erikson’s stage 5 of his psychological development. It is during this stage the…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adolescent Interview Essay

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Teenage years can be a challenging time for many individuals. Beginning at the age of 11 through 20, adolescence is defined as a “transitional period in the human life span, linking childhood and adulthood” (Santrock 2009). At this point, the person is no longer a child, but not yet an adult. This makes it a very critical and sensitive time frame for identity formation.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adolesent Self-Portrait

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Adolescence is a time of self-discovery; it is a time when one challenges authority to gauge the response of one’s parents or guardians. This is also a time when we are testing the bonds of our friendships. As a military brat, this was an especially frustrating time as the stability of a hometown and life-long friendships did not exist. Culture paled an important role during this period as well; you see in a Japanese household, there was no such thing as adolescence, one behaved in a manner that did not bring dishonor to the house. This way of thinking seemed to work well while my family was stationed overseas, however, once we came back to the states, and we settled in California, adolescence was a strange mix of searching for independence and defending my families honor. Milestones were reached, biologically, physically, and mentally, I can note that birth order mattered as well. As the middle child, I was a little more independent; I obtained my first job at 14 a year before my brother, although he excelled academically.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Identity Crisis Theory

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Erik Erikson’s Identity Crisis Theory describes the key part of teens in their adolescence age. In his theory of psychological development, it is called Identity versus confusion.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adolescence is a developmental stage that occurs through childhood to adulthood. Adolescence is a critical time in one’s life in which changes are taking place through major factors of physiological, cognitive, and behavioural aspects. As for this period in life it comes with puberty that is referred to as a change and development in the body as a child moves from kid to adult. Also, it is a time where they begin to explore who they are as individuals and develop their own identities as they get more into adulthood. This stage is known as “identity versus role confusion”. The stage comes from Erik Erikson's model from the identified eight stages in the developmental process from birth to old age. In Erikson’s life-span stage theory, identity…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    References: Berk, L. (2010). Development Through The Lifespan. (5th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Becoming an adolescent is a time where you go from child to adult. At this time you will experience things your body maturing and your sexual identity as a young adult. (Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010)) When coming into adulthood you tend to have your personality develop more along with your morals. You will find yourself experimenting and evaluating who you are. (Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010)) In the social perspective teens will become more independent and yet still maintain that need for stability with their parents. Often time’s…

    • 1751 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Middle childhood is the period of life that occurs between the ages 7 and 11. During these times of children lives they are in school and are making many different friends, and their cognitive and physical skills are enhancing. On the other hand, middle childhood period normally introduce individuals into new sets of challenges; not only for the child but for the parents as well. After middle childhood comes the adolescence stage, this period of life children face drastic changes. This stage can range from as early as 8 years old to 18. This essay will describe changes that occur during middle childhood and adolescence concerning family and peer relationships, and how they might influence future development.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Berk, L. E. (2010). Development through the Lifespan (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The progression from adolescence to adulthood is one of the most complicated periods in one’s life. Naïveté and inexperience become insecurities, and the expectations a family places on children sometimes overwhelm their desire to thrive. Although society likes to paint pictures of perfect family relationships and what they are expected to be, they are more often riddled with trials and tribulations that do not always have a happy ending.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Many adolescents struggle with the transition from teen-age years to adulthood. Questions are raised on careers, friends, school and family. "How do I know I made the right decision?" "What career do I wish to pursue?" "Why is this change so difficult?" Some, at times, even wish that they had an influence or guide to help them. For many, this is where the parents step in. Parents are meant to support and help an adolescent when needed, especially during this difficult transition. However, this is not always the case. Some parents allow the adolescent to make the move alone and endure the hard times. But, in the end, what are missing are the values and morals needed to survive on the real world. A good relationship with parents makes adolescents ' transition into adulthood easier and instills family morals and values that will prevent he or she from becoming blind to the real world and possible tragedies to follow.…

    • 1833 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adolescent Development

    • 778 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The movie "Thirteen" is a perfect example of how a young thirteen year old girl named Tracy goes through identity crisis as proposed in Erik Erikson's adolescent developmental stage identity verses identity confusion. The main characters in this movie are Tracy, Evie (Tracy's best friend), Mel (Tracy's mother), and Brady (Tracy's brother). Quotes from the official website of "Thirteen" really set the tone for the entire movie. Some of the quotes were:…

    • 778 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Identity vs Confusion

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “The only journey is the one within”. By Rainer Marie Rike. I picked identity vs. confusion because I am still developing my life goals and plans. I am on a journey with many obstacles to help me reach my desired path in life. Erikson believed that young adults are meant to go through a phase called psychosocial moratorium, which is the exploration with different roles and opportunities. He also coined the term ‘ego crisis’ and believed that it was one of the most important conflicts people face in development. Ego crisis refers to the confusion between different roles, leading to prolonged moratorium, and intensified search and impulsive actions. In forming an identity, people achieve it by arriving at a sense of sameness and continuity. With this being said the three aspects that I am going to focus my paper on are as follows one is school, work and growth. I have picked these three topics because I believe that agree with me through my everyday life and as I discuss these things you will see the point in my life where I can grow and change.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Adolescence. The mysterious age that can be effected by so much and provide the necessary transition into adulthood. Because there is an infinite number of factors that could change the span of adolescence, we may never be able to map out exactly how someone will end up just by analyzing things like their current environment, childhood, what child rearing practice was used, etc, but we are getting closer and making stronger predictions based on specific categories in those areas. I chose to focus on this area of lifespan development because I feel like there is still so much to discover and learn. Children and teens are amazing the way that they shape and mold themselves into adulthood and I would love to gain more information into that process. My ultimate goal for the future is to work in or run a private practice that specializes in child and adolescent psychology and counseling but also services marriage, couple and grief counseling as well. I feel like I can relate to children/adolescents very well and find that sometimes it’s easier communicating with them than adults because they are so willing to absorb information if it is presented in the right way. There are many children out there who sometimes just need someone to talk to. Other times, it’s more than that but I would love the chance to help them grow into the amazing people that each of them has the potential to be. I’m excited for what the future holds and I hope to achieve my goals by finishing my B.A. in General Psychology and then going on to pursue my M.S. in Child/Adolescent psychology. You will see that talking to Suzanne Johnson from Johnson Counseling was a great experience for me to see how she runs her practice and some of the issues she encounters most. You will also continue to read about major events or milestones that I find important when looking at an adolescent’s life. There are many things that can affect a young person that sometimes we never even realize. Lastly, you…

    • 2474 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shenji

    • 3978 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Adolescence can be a difficult time – your child is going through rapid physical changes as well as emotional ups and downs. Young people aren’t always sure where they fit, and they’re still trying to work it out. Adolescence can also be a time when peer influences and relationships can cause stress for teenagers and their families, and family support can be vital to getting through these challenges.…

    • 3978 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays