Adolescent Development: The Hurricane of Growth - Coursework Example

Adolescent Development Adolescent Development: The Hurricane of Growth Adolescent Development 2 Adolescent Development: The Hurricane of Growth Puberty is a time when all levels of growth are in turmoil. Physical development rapidly changes, causing social difficulties and crisis with gender. Cognitive growth is changing as higher levels of understanding are being attained and must be processed. Decisions about the information they have on the world will form the basis for moral, ethical, and social levels of personality. Emotional development traps the adolescent between a victimization and responsibility conundrum that is sourced by pressures from outside influences. Adolescence represents a time of great storm in the body and mind, which can lead to the path of a successful adulthood, or the devastation of unfulfilled potential because a lack of development during this time impedes success. Physical development during adolescence begins with the onset of puberty. Changes occur in the body that are profound and have a great impact on all other areas of development. A reasonable definition of puberty is “a transitional period between childhood and adulthood, during which a growth spurt occurs, secondary sexual characteristics appear, fertility is achieved, and profound psychological changes take place.”(Kipke, p 1). The changes that take place during this time will set the course for all aspects of development. As the adolescent develops, the rapid changes and growth is comparable to the experience in infancy. The onset of puberty can begin between the ages of “8 and 14 for females, and 9 and 15 for males” (Kipke, p1). Growth can be affected by many factors. The foundation of the basis for how development occurs is the inherited potential that is from the genetics of the family. “Within individual families, there is a strong correlation Adolescent Development 3 between ages at which parents and their children undergo pubertal development.” (Pescovitz, p 85). Physical characteristics are affected by genetic contributions by the mother and father, but the way in which the body changes and at what rate can be determined by genetic inheritance as well. “The age of menarche between mothers and daughters is highly correlated, indicating that a mother’s age of menarche is a good predictor for her daughter’s age of menarche.” (Pescovitz, p 85). Environmental factors can have an affect on maturation. Girls who engage in extreme physical activity can postpone the onset of menstruation and physical development. As an example, girls who train in gymnastics are found to have a slowed growth and a delay in sexual development. “All measures of pubertal maturation, including bone age, development of the secondary sexual characteristics, and age at menarche, are also delayed in most competitive gymnasts.” (Kraemer, p 518). There has been some evidence on a hormonal level that growth is inhibited. “The gymnasts also had significantly lower serum concentrations of estradiol and IGF-1(Insulin-like Growth Factor 1)” (Kraemer, p 518). The same inhibition of growth was not found in males gymnasts. Malnutrition can also affect maturation, which is sometimes seen in young female athletes and can contribute to the factors above. However, there is more evidence that supports genetic factors having a higher influence on the onset of puberty and the path of growth than on environmental factors. Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist and epistemologist, made studies that formed the foundation of cognitive science for psychology and education. Piaget concluded that “the onset of each stage is signaled by a major shift in intellectual activity from the Adolescent Development 4 preceding stage of development. Although the beginning of each stage varies for each individual, the sequence of the stages does not change.“ (Queen, p 15-16). According to Piaget’s stages of cognitive growth, from the age of eleven on the following development will occur: Cognitive structures mature to the adult level Capacity to engage all categories and classes of problems: the verbal abstractions, the hypothetical, and consideration of past and future conditions. Ability to evaluate a logical argument separate from its content.(Queen, p 15-16). Intellectual development creates the capability to form higher concepts of morals and ethics. Hereditary and environmental factors affect the development cognitive growth in the adolescent. However, “Hereditary factors probably have a stronger impact on spatial skills, whereas environmental seem to influence verbal abilities more” (Mildner, p 41) Inherited factors are thought to be influenced by generations of conditioning that have developed brain organization in reference to most used skill sets. Men tend to have higher spatial skills and women have stronger verbal skills. One theory is that “human brain organization has been determined by natural selection through generations.” (Mildner, p 41). According to Vesna Mildner in her book, The Cognitive Neuroscience of Human Communication, girls and boys that come from authoritarian societies have a more pronounced difference in the development of certain cognitive skill sets. From generations of gender selected roles, the brain has become designed to adapt to those Adolescent Development 5 skills needed for those roles. As well, the environmental conditioning that occurs during maturation determines what direction skill sets will be developed. “Boys tend to investigate more and girls tend to be more social” (Mildner p 41). This seems to be created from the socialization and encouraged interest. In late adolescence, the development of identity becomes a factor in overall growth. Issues of choosing belief systems and personal definitions becomes critical as the onset of adulthood and the choices involved becomes imperative. “The youth struggles to integrate a number of coexisting factors, including gender identity, physical capabilities, sexuality, reasoning ability, and social expectations. The result is an identity that is constructed rather than conferred by parents and society.” (Myers, p 162). Freud’s theories on personality involve the concepts of the Id, the Ego and the Superego. In adolescence, choices on how the Ego will behave and how the Id will be managed are imperative in choosing the path that will be the identity. However, many mistakes are made during this time. As well, the level of responsibility for actions that are influenced can vary as the many choices available become pressures. According to The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment, in respect to children who are victims of abuse, “Cognitively, an important dimension appears to be how children understand the concept of victimization and the perception of responsibility for the event. . . an adolescent’s perception of power, right, wrong, and fairness may be shaped by abusive incidents.”(Myers, p 162). Children who are not abused, are also influenced by this understanding of their responsibility for their world. The difficulty that arises is where the line between victimization and responsibility must be drawn. Adolescent Development 6 The use of Maslow’s pyramid is acutely relevant to the development of adolescents. Their survival instincts have been formed with a recognition of how survival is accomplished. On a personal level, this writer knew a girl whose mother was committed to a mental institution, and in fear of her own survival (because her father had not been responsible for her getting fed), would hoard food in her locker to the point of its decay. This obsessive need to support the first level of Maslow is indicative of the strong survival techniques that adolescents will adapt to when the need arrives. Children who end up living homeless learn to survive at all costs to personal moral and ethical issues. When the levels of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are not met, the adolescent will seek a way to fulfill that at the cost of other development because that sense of learning was not completed. During the growth of adolescence, many things can affect the maturation. Factors of heredity affect the physical growth which can affect socialization and personality. Cognitive growth is affected as well by factors of heredity and environment, which will also determines factors of personality. Personality is affected by the socialization and choices made in regard to what levels of morality and ethics will be adopted into the conduct of the adult. While an important and fragile time in life, the navigation of adolescence is a necessary journey for every growing human - as much as it is the responsibility of the community to enhance and ease the transitional phase from childhood to adulthood. Adolescent Development 7 List of References Kipke, M. D. (1999). Adolescent development and the biology of puberty: Summary of a workshop on new research. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Kraemer, W. J., & Rogol, A. D. (2005). The endocrine system in sports and exercise. The encyclopedia of sports medicine, v. 11. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Pub. Myers, J. E. B. (2002). The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Mildner, Vesna. (2008). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Human Communication. New York N.Y.: Taylor & Francis Group, L.L.C. Pescovitz, O. H., & Walvoord, E. C. (2007). When puberty is precocious: Scientific and clinical aspects. Totowa, N.J.: Humana Press. Queen, J. A. (2003). The block scheduling handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Read More