Free Essay on Application of Theory/Concepts: Interview With an Adolescent

Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood for growth and development. A teenager between the ages of 10 and 19 is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). This age group is determined by the WHO as teenagers between 10 and 24 years of age. Sentimental and sometimes physical isolation from parents is a problem during adolescent years. While this sense of distinction is an essential step in defining individual values, the shift to self-sufficiency requires most teenagers to adapt. Also, adolescents rarely play their own clear social roles, but instead have an ambiguous relationship between infancy and adulthood.

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The participant feels that adolescence is a much-anticipated age for them, but it is generally hard and complicated. The participant thinks that this age has defined their understanding of many issues in their environment while posing more problems to the growth and realization of goals in both domestic and educational instances. Either way, the participant stated that they have had a few fun moments. She says that she has had a lot of fun with friends in mini-adventures that were fueled by her need to explore new freedom and cases. However, she states that such adventures have been filled with peer pressure which sometimes makes them dangerous and even unwanted. For instance, the participant reveals that she had used marijuana before. Something which her parents are entirely unaware of. She states that the slight disconnection from her parents due to changes in her body and mind has dramatically changed how open she can be with her parents.

Such experiences are particularly similar to mine. As an adolescent, I have sometimes failed to speak openly with my parents about specific issues that existed in my environment. Additionally, the presence of peer pressure has driven me to heights that I would not imagine I would go regarding doing unwanted activities such as truancy. Either way, I have learnt to deal with issues by speaking to people who I feel I more connected with, in my case, my grandmother, for the participant's example, her aunt.

The participant believes that a person becomes an adult at the age of 18. She states this notion is preinstalled by society and her parents, who have influenced her understanding of age and what she can or not do. She says that a middle-aged person is between 15 to 17 years. I believe that my environment has had a critical impact on the way that I understand ages. My parents always told I would be allowed to do more things at the age of 18. This influenced shaped my understanding of why 18 years of age comes with different responsibilities.

Clark et al. (2019) found that more accessible and culturally accepted activities (e.g. dating) are more inheritable than less regular and socially acceptable habits for adolescents (e.g. sexual intercourse). From this finding, I have learnt that it is essential for us to consider the broader developmental context when considering sexual development that the etiology of various sexual behaviours is linked to their normativeness.

Physical Development

The participant learnt that she was going through puberty at the 10. She thought that this was earlier than her friends since she was the first one to start slight bodily changes at the time. The participant says she was baffled at first, but after talking to her mother, she realized that such physical changes were meant to happen.

The age of puberty in many developed countries has declined considerably over the past 150 years. While pattern in both sexes is evident, data in women (where the biological markers are more precise) shows, for example, that in the 1800s menarche age dropped (first menstrual period) in northern Europe, and then decreased over the last century by up to three years (Bellis, Downing, & Ashton, 2006). A mixture of advances in public health and changes in social systems will lead to this decline. Events such as improved nutrition and health status by decreasing infections in infantile families were, therefore, essential factors that accelerated puberty start-ups. Stress is also a psychological accelerator of adolescence. In many different countries, family disruption, including parental absenteeism, has rapidly increased as well as divorce levels and single-family numbers (e.g., England 2005). Stress has become one of the most effective stressors. Recent shifts have had the review impact of relatively recent declines in adolescence level. However, these efforts were not matched by efforts to build teenagers equally at an accelerated rate, having left the gap among physical adolescence and social puberty (the age of adult mental attitude and schooling).

Cognitive Development

Formal Operational Thought

The cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget shows that kids are going through four different mental development stages. His approach not only focuses on the understanding of how kids learn but also on understanding the nature of intellectual ability. Two of these stages are the formal operational stage and the concrete operational stage. Piaget defined formal operational thought as one that a young adult starts to abstractly comprehend and articulate reasoning that is based on assumed issues. The adolescent begins to be more social, ethical, political and philosophical by in cooperating with theoretical and abstract reasoning. On the other hand, concrete thought is characterized by logical thinking regarding concrete events. Concrete thought is linked to the comprehension of the concept of conversations and the organization of inductive logic to make conclusions that conceptualize general principles in the environment.

To test the participant's formal operational thought, I used the four-card task. I gave the participant four-card labeled, A, D,4, and 7. I asked her which card is worth turning over if a card had a vowel on one side then it had an even number on the other side. The participant chose the card labeled A. This means that she wanted the card that was more capable of confirming the statement rather than disconfirming it, which is a characteristic of operational thought.

David Elkind's egocentric thought:

Psychologist David Elkind argued that young people are in the phase of self-absorption, so they can only look at the world from their own point of view. He called self-centeredness at this stage. Egocentrism can lead to many of the distinctive features of teenagers. Egocentrism alludes to the inclination of young person to think about themselves. Elkind says that because puberty and adolescence lead to many changes, and teens get absorbed into the emotional, physical and mental changes that they are undergoing. There is an obvious consideration for one's self which leads to self-awareness. Indecisiveness refers to the lack of having proper choosing strategies for teens. This makes them lack the ability to make choices in the required time or resources. Apparent hypocrisy is characterized by the behaviour of adolescents not having the ability to recognize the variance between making an ideal and sacrificing to live up to it. Pseudo-stupidity is the young person's tendency to ignore straightforwardness and insufficiency in decision-making. Self-criticism refers to the ability of adolescents to criticize themselves based on a predefined set of conditions.

There were instances where the participant showed argumentativeness and apparent hypocrisy. In one case, I made a comment on how and why adolescence is critical for growth. The participant argued that even though she is an adolescent, she has had more experiences than the average adult. The base of this argument was unknown. On the one hand, when I asked her why she felt less connected to her parents, she said it's because she did not want to. Even though talking to her parents about her life was something she could always do, she did not see the need regardless of mentioning how supportive her parents have been.

Psychosocial Development

The participant felt that she learned more on academics than any kind of physicality or athleticism. She stated that she was more affiliated with getting more grades and reading than sports. Moreover, she said that her lack of interest in sports or any physical activities was countered with an immense interest in reading books and doing things alone. All in all, she spent some time with her friends and often engaged with activities she considered was fun. These were going for picnics and having walks.

The participant noted that she has always been conflicted on the concept of religion. Initially being a catholic, she states that for some time, she felt that religion was not fully answering the questions she had. For instance, she mentions how some stories in the bible are not really making any sense to her. With such perceptions, she identifies herself as an atheist, something that she has not communicated to her parents, who she mentioned are highly religious. She stated that some of this influence is due to her friends and the kind of content she reads and interacts within the internet.

Generally, most adolescents are not socialized outside their community when in a clique. Together, you do it all. Such children are inseparable from eating together to social events. Yet they never invite new people to spend hours with them. Some individuals see the clique as a close friend group. We have the same preferences and spend time with each other. The problems arise if others are not invited to join or remain with the party.

Furthermore, in cliques, mates in other communities are often mistaken for a member of the group. It is expected that relationships should apply to the party only. If someone is out of the group, it is ostracized quickly. This excessive cooperation is terrible for young people because they don't meet new people or broaden their field of relationship. Note that the healthiest adolescents have friends with various interests in different social circles.

The participant stated that her clique had significant impacts on her perceptions and understanding of her current environment. She feels that peer pressure has created an environment where many activities are done due to cliques and not the personal realization of the consequences that exist.

Moral development

Based on the responses from the participant, she is at the pre-conventional level. Throughout her answers, he gives reference according to what her parents told her. She had previously stated that her parents were strict and would not let any wrongdoing go without any punishment. For instance, according to the dilemma presented to her, she feels that Josh lying to his uncle to get money was wrong. She explains that her parents have always told her to work for what she wants. To get anything, she was required to either help at home or in the neighborhood. Any cases of misconduct would be reported, and she would pay for anything that she did.

She explains that James is wrong since he decided to go steal from his parents instead of asking. Even though there was no way both characters could get the money, the participant explains that both of them should have at least tried since her parents taught her to ask, and if something is not available, other solutions will be created. She also noted that as long as things made sense to the other party, there will always be a positive outcome in the decisions made since they would understand what is required of them.