Chapter Five
The Adolescent
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. To be aware that our modern-day beliefs about adolescence differ from the beliefs of people in different cultures and at earlier historical periods.
2. To see the relationship between beliefs about the adolescent stage of life and our treatment of youths, particularly delinquents.
3. To be aware of behavior that is considered “normal” for contemporary adolescents.
4. To understand how societal conditions, including one-to-one interactions with delinquents, can best promote a youth’s adjustment.
5. To be able to analyze delinquents’ circumstances and identify those difficulties stemming from they’re status as adolescents as distinct from those resulting from other causes.
CHAPTER OUTLINE:
· This chapter uses an interdisciplinary approach to add to our understanding of delinquency.
· Since all juvenile delinquents are adolescents, it is necessary for students of delinquency and personnel who work in delinquency programs to understand the psychology of adolescents. Awareness of physical and related psychological changes is required to answer a number of questions.
· Anthropologists and historians provide a different perspective for the study of adolescents.
A Cultural Perspective
· Margaret Mead, in her famous study Coming of Age in Samoa, concluded that adolescence and the characteristics peculiar to it are culturally defined.
· The Cavans emphasized that a shortening or even an omission of adolescence occurs in societies where there is a well-organized family controlled by family elders.
· Some cultures use ceremonies to clearly establish the point at which a child has become an adult.
· While boys are usually initiated into the public sphere when moving from childhood to adulthood, girls are not considered to be dramatically different from children when they reach puberty.
· These cultures with and without recognition of puberty are distinguished from our own, which is marked by confusion about the transition, by a period called adolescence and a delay of the transition to adult status.
Contemporary American Culture
· In industrialized and technologically advanced countries like the United States, the period of adolescence is much longer than it is in underdeveloped countries, according to some, because of the need for increased training and specialization and less dependence on the family as a total unit.
· Our culture is one of the few in which children are prepared for adulthood by encouraging them to act differently than adults.
A Historical Perspective
· Prior to the fifteenth century, children did not hold a protected status; only in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries did the idea develop that children should be treated in a special way in order to prepare them for adulthood.
· During the nineteenth century, in America and other Western countries, “child-saving” institutions were established, and eventually the state became heavily involved in reforming delinquents through the juvenile court system.
· An important quality of this adolescent stage of life is that school is required, and many types of work are prohibited.
· The implications of these changes have been somewhat different for females and males.
· Today’s juvenile court system is influenced by traditions based on historical beliefs about adolescence.
Recent Changes
· Contemporary challenges to traditional beliefs about adolescence are having some effect on the juvenile courts and related programs to control delinquency.
· We have recently experienced a change in the size of the adolescent population relative to other age groups.
· Juvenile population is projected to remain relatively stable by the year 2020 (at 24 percent).
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Social-Psychological Perspective
· American cultural traditions and history affect the families, community institutions, and neighborhood experiences which in turn affect adolescents.
The Normal Adolescent
· Contrary to the common belief that adolescence is always characterized by turmoil and unhappiness, research has shown that this is the case for only some youths.
· The Offers revealed at least three pathways to development for adolescent boys: 1) continuous growth, 2) surgent growth, and 3) tumultuous growth.
· Researchers and theorists who have studied adolescence have often assumed that all youths go through a period of tumultuous growth, however, this is usually not the case.
· In our society, girls in particular are negatively affected when their reproductive organs become developed.
· In developing a picture of the normal adolescent in contemporary American society, it is important to keep in mind that, just as there is no one normal type of behavior and personality, there is no one path to maturity in our society.
· Although adolescent is not necessarily “pathological,” and many adolescents make the transition to adulthood with few difficulties, we concentrate on those youths who do experience problems.
· If the person working with delinquent adolescents is too quick in shutting off the normal adolescent expression of verbalizations and behavior, this can compound the problems for the delinquent youngsters.
Adolescent Development
· During the period of adolescence-especially in a highly industrialized culture like ours-not only are physical and psychological changes taking place, but the youngster is also attempting to develop a self-concept.
· Communication plays a key factor in helping adolescents work with various stressors in their lives.
· Coleman identified conflicts or problem areas that adolescent youngsters have to deal with during adolescence: a) moving from dependence to independence; b) transition from pure to pleasure to reality; c) transcending from incompetence to competence; and d) develop from a nonproductive to a more productive orientation.
· Adolescents have similar societal concerns and worries as adults; while some adults feel that young people are a threat to the adult way of life, most youngsters are closely aligned with many adult values.
The Sexual Behavior of Adolescents
· It is essential that people who work with juvenile offenders differentiate between normal adolescent sexual behavior, problems that can result from normal sexual behavior, and illegal sexual behavior.
· Historically, the juvenile court has defined what many individuals and groups consider to be normal sexual behavior as an indication of waywardness, especially girls.
· It is now recognized that it is not abnormal for adolescents to have an interest in sexual activity and to engage in a variety of behaviors.
· Not only do delinquent youths tend to be more sexually active that others but there has also been a general increase in the sexual activity of all adolescents.
· An interesting aspect to sexual attitudes among youth is their perceptions of what is “normal” in relation to their peers.
Contraceptives, Pregnancy, and Early Marriage
· There are many reasons why youths fail to use contraceptives including they will be “lucky” and avoid pregnancy, they feel powerless to control their lives, and there is a lack of open communication with parents.
· Since the 1970’s the pregnancy rate for teens has remained at 11 percent although nearly 50 percent of the pregnancies are terminated with abortion, an increasing number of the girls who have their babies do not marry.
· Individuals working with juveniles may find themselves in the position of referring youths for services related to contraception and pregnancy; they may find it necessary to make referral to services for youths suspected of having a sexually transmitted disease.
AIDS
· Practitioners in the juvenile justice system should be aware of adolescents’ risk for contracting Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
· Adolescents in general, and those likely to be in contact with the juvenile justice system, may be a high-risk group for acquiring the disease.
Sexual Aggression
· Compared to the number of youth who are sexually active and even to the number who do not use contraceptives and become pregnant, the number who are involved in clearly illegal sexual activities is much smaller.
· One type of illegal activity, sexual aggression, is more common, usually by a male and against a female.
Alcohol and Substance Abuse among Adolescents
· There is strong evidence that a majority of adolescents use alcohol and that many use other illegal drugs, particularly marijuana; smaller numbers use heroin and cocaine.
· Treatment and other control efforts aimed toward adolescents cannot be undertaken without knowledge of drug abuse.
· Youths vary considerable in their patterns of drug use ranging from onetime or infrequent users to those having a serious drug abuse problem.
· This chapter focuses on the problem drug abusers-youths whose chronic use brings them into contact with the juvenile justice system or interrupts learning, work, and necessary developmental activities.
Extent of Substance among Adolescents
· An examination of the different images of youths who use drugs since the 1960’s provides an excellent illustration of several major themes in this book.
· Parallel to these changes are the major shifts in theories developed to explain adolescent drug use and the programs to control the problem.
Unique Influences on Drug Abuse
· In reference to the influences on substance abuse, a variety of psychological variables play a part in substance abuse, but not in delinquency, including self-esteem, life distress, personality traits, psychiatric symptoms, and lack of inhibitions.
· Research provides considerable support for the conclusion that individual problems, often stemming from family dynamics, contribute importantly to substance abuse.
· Dryfoos identified the following factors that are considered “risk markers” for later substance abuse: early initiation, school problems, family problems, peer influences, and personality.
The Influence of Peers and the Status of Adolescents
· It has long been recognized that there is often a great deal of peer influence involved in the use of drugs; using them can be considered the “in” thing to do.
· The extensive separation of youths from adults in our society often contributes to peers’ considerable influence over other youths.
· Adolescents who do not feel a part or any society’s valued activities, such as work or relevant education, have no reason to avoid the use of drugs.
Pathways to Delinquency
· Juvenile justice practitioners are often faced with the need to provide drug treatment services to delinquents, particularly for older adolescents and for those who began using drugs at an early age.
· With the increasing number of youth in the juvenile justice system, there is a recognized need to address not only the problem of substance abuse, but also possible underlying mental health problems
· There is an association between drugs and crime, since certain social conditions seem to stimulate both, with the result that many youthful offenders will commit a variety of crimes including drug abuse.
Handling Drug Abusers in the Juvenile Justice System
· Depending on the political climate, current beliefs, and popular theories, one of two extreme approaches can be taken to handling the drug abusers in the juvenile justice system: a) the “criminal model”, and b) the “treatment model”.
· There is considerable overlap between voluntary treatment programs and the formal components of the juvenile justice system; individual youths may be referred from one to the other, or they may find themselves involved in both systems.
· According to the Pittsburgh Youth Study, boys may become delinquent through one or more of three pathways: 1) the overt pathway, 2) the covert pathway, and 3) the authority conflict pathway.
· The Pittsburgh Youth Study provided a basis for designing a system of involving schools, parents, and other people in contact with youth in the identification of children at risk for delinquency at various stages of development.
· A “multiple-gating design” can be used to identify at risk youth; procedures can range from teachers identifying problem behaviors to contacting parents.
Working with Adolescents
· There are two basic strategies for working with adolescent delinquents: 1) emphasis on rethinking and redefining the place of adolescents in contemporary society, and 2) emphasis on interacting with individual delinquents with sensitivity to the fact that the delinquent is an adolescent first and a delinquent second.
· The first strategy emphasizes increasing children’s rights; the second strategy emphasizes one-to-one interactions with adolescents.
Children’s Rights
· Zimring identified four beliefs that underlie arguments to increase children’s rights: 1) adolescents can make judgments as wisely as adults, limiting intervention into youngsters’ lives will avoid doing unintended harm, extending rights will accomplish other important objectives, and adolescents should have the right to “learn by doing.”
· Some have argued that different types of rights should be extended to children such as “rights against the state,” greater state protections in actions involving the state, constitutional protections in actions involving the state, and the right to challenge parent authority.
· The first two of these rights emphasize “nurturance,” the third and four emphasize “self-determination.”
· Additional approaches to extend the rights and opportunities for adolescents is to advocate for them individually in a counseling or casework context and to alter basic social institutions.
Counseling Delinquents
· The existence of a youth subculture diametrically opposed to adult lifestyles, ideals, and values is probably exaggerated; there are many more youngsters who share the viewpoints of their parents than those who do not.
· There are, however, some differences that practitioners need to understand when working with juveniles; adolescents in general are very difficult to work with and delinquent adolescents present an even greater challenge; adolescents are experiencing conflicts and frustrations; and youths need to develop an adequate self-concept, feel worthwhile, and be accepted by a group.
CLASSROOM DISCUSSION:
1. What evidence is there in this chapter, or from other sources, to support your own beliefs about the capabilities, rights, and responsibilities of adolescents.
2. What changes in laws, schools, work opportunities, and family life could reduce delinquency? Support your views with information from this chapter.
3. In what ways are the image of the drug-abusing teenager in the 1960’s and the 1970’s an inadequate basis for theories and programs today?
4. Does drug use cause other delinquent activities? In your answer, be specific about the types of drug and the types of delinquency you are talking about.