Adult Definition Essay

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Youth resembles a quarter of our populace which in a matter of time will resemble our mature grownups. And for this very reason, people from many cultures value this transition. Since its first known use in 1531, the word adult definition has some changes. The word adult comes from the Latin adultus which is derived from adolēscere meaning to grow up. Historically, people didn't have any transition point from the young state to the adult state which affected their definition of adults. They defined adults as people who started their puberty and they usually accompanied the transition with ceremonies and tests. Unlike the historic biologically focused definition, now a day after the establishment of adolescence the definition has obtained two …show more content…

Some celebrations are based on the society religion. Like bar and bat mitzvah, which is an old Jewish religious tradition where a person is considered as an adult after the celebration. Rumspringa is another celebration where a child becomes of age. Other customs do not have any religious drives.

Different countries perceive people as adults in varying measures. Even if one reached puberty or was seen by one's family as an adult, the countries law is what in the end determine the limit of his or her practices and legal rights. People become legal adults when they reach 18 in most of the United States like Alaska, Arizona, Ohio. In Saudi Arabia, the legal age of consent, for example, doesn't exist. As a matter of fact, Saudi Arabia prohibits any sexual intercourse before Marriage. Japan, on the other hand, has a surprisingly low age of consent which is …show more content…

Based on Dr. George Vaillant theory of adult development, he believes that more than stages of adulthood they are tasks that way people can be thought or assisted with accomplishing the tasks. Moreover, it will be much easier for a person to know which task he lacks in and work on completing it. There are six main tasks that each adult must accomplish to have a muter and happy adult life. The first task that must ideally be achieved after adolescence is identity which is primarily focused on creating one's beliefs and thoughts and the separation of one's parents. With a secured identity, one might start looking for other tasks like a young adult intimacy or career consolidation which is more commonly accomplished during ones' midlife. The other tasks come later in adults' life like generativity and keeper of the meaning. The task of generativity is basically giving care to the next generation. The penultimate task is the keeper of the meaning which manifests the passing of information from the past to the next generation which links the past to the future. There is a common trend of these tasks which is that they all work together to support the individual and his or her social circle and sustenance the prolongation of the circle of

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