Development In Adolescence

Development in Adolescence

Depending on the definition of this concept that is adopted, adolescence is the narrow threshold or a vast no-man's land that separates adulthood from childhood. In one -physica1ist- view, adolescence begins when secondary sex characters become noticeable and ends when they are fully developed. In another -socio1ogica1- view, adolescence ends when social independence has been gained. It may easily take many years more to span the interval between those two events. In this collection of papers by specialists from various disciplines, physical, psychological and social aspects of adolescence are considered. The book originates from a postgraduate course for medical practitioners, who deal with adolescents, but the range of the papers is such that we hope it may be of value to a much wider readership, including educators and all who are concerned with adolescents. The course was entitled: 'Adolescence: psychological, social and biological aspects', and was held in Leiden in November 1981. It was the fourth in a series of Boerhaave Courses instigated by the Dutch Growth Foundation of available. which a published record has now become Previous titles are 'Somatic growth of the child' (1966), 'De samenstel1ing van het mense1ijk 1ichaam' (1968) (=Human body composition), and 'Normal and abnormal development of brain and behaviour' (1971). VI The detailed programme of the course was planned by Dr. F.J. Bekker, Prof. Dr. J.L. van den Brande, Prof. Dr. W. Everaerd, Prof. A.Th. Schweizer and Prof. Dr. J.J. van der Werff ten Bosch.

Development in Adolescence

Narrative Development in Adolescence

Monisha Pasupathi and Kate C. McLean Where Have You Been, Where Are You Going? Narrative Identity in Adolescence How can we help youth move from childhood to adulthood in the most effective and positive way possible? This is a question that parents, educators, researchers, and policy makers engage with every day. In this book, we explore the potential power of the stories that youth construct as one route for such movement. Our emphasis is on how those stories serve to build a sense of identity for youth and how the kinds of stories youth tell are informed by their broader contexts – from parents and friends to nationalities and history. Identity development, and in part- ular narrative identity development, concerns the ways in which adolescents must integrate their past and present and articulate and anticipate their futures (Erikson, 1968). Viewed in this way, identity development is not only unique to adol- cence (and emergent adulthood), but also intimately linked to childhood and to adulthood. The title for this chapter, borrowed from the Joyce Carol Oates story, highlights the precarious position of adolescence in relation to the construction of identity. In this story, the protagonist, poised between childhood and adulthood, navigates a series of encounters with relatively little awareness of either her childhood past or her potential adult futures. Her choices are risky and her future, at the end, looks dark.