Negative Effects Of Adolescence

Introduction To understand adolescence, we must provide its definition, timing, and duration. It’s important to know where it begins and ends and what it entails. Santrock states, “Adolescence ends when culture, affirms one’s entrance into the mainstream of adulthood—we can say that adolescence is the journey of biological adulthood to societal adulthood.” The process is referred to as “second individuation.” It’s a new journey in development that the emerging adolescent looks to express his or her “distinctiveness and move toward an internal locus of control, while at the same time remaining relationally connected as an ongoing member of the family system and the community.” The impact of external and internal changes in the culture have

The researchers have found one reason there is a difficult period of adolescence children are because their parents are reaching midlife. This is often a time of crisis for adults. “Thus the conflict that frequently occurs during the strain of adolescence must be viewed in light of the parental strain as well.” The parents and the teenage children are both going through challenging changes at the same time. According to, Jack and Judith Balswick, to help understand the interactive effect they use a systematic approach. The adolescent stress only multiplies the parental midlife stress, not add to it. Furthermore, the parent’s midlife challenges are constantly affected by adolescent changes. When personal crisis occur at the same time with two or more family members “the potential for conflict increases exponentially.” The problems are generated from the stressful changes of adolescence and midlife when they happen

The Western societies just define the stages of childhood development in last three hundred years. “Children are now viewed as being qualitatively and not just quantitatively different from adults.” The culture consisted of farmers or trade workers where the youth learned and develop skills through apprenticeship system. The master craftsmen and apprentices watched the youth as they both lived and worked together. “Once the skill were mastered, one was ready for adulthood and marriage. Mastering the skills of one’s future trade was the rite of passage into adulthood.” The expansion of adolescence of the affluence of youth in Western societies today is due to youth earning their own money or parents giving them money. This has led to a greater measure of independence “not experience by any previous generation.” Today, the loss of parental and societal control along with the increased youth independence is another reason for the adolescence