Adolescence

1
Adolescence

• Intercultural differences
• Intracultural (subcultural) variation
• Historical change

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2
Traditional Cultures

• Australian aborigine (Berber, 1988)
• Instruction in The Law
• Moral and social codes
• Survival skills
• Origin stories
• Period of separation where the adolescent must
  survive unassisted
• On return, welcomed as an adult

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3
Traditional Cultures

• Much variation but adolescence often formally and
  ritually defined
• Common features include
• Period of instruction
• Challenge, ordeal or period of separation
• Visible sign of adult status

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4
Cultural Differences

• Individualist
• Emphasise individuality and competition
• Tend to have loose social role structures
• Adolescence is about learning to survive and
  compete as an individual

• Collectivist
• Emphasise belonging and co-operation
• Tend to have rigid social role structures
• Adolescence is about learning your place in the
  social group and proving you can meet your
  responsibilities

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5
Subcultural Variations

• Coming of age rituals or rites of passage
  persist in some subcultures (e.g. religious ones)
• E.g. Bar/Bat Mitzvah (Judaism) confirmation
  (Catholicism) confer status of adult member of
  congregation
• Rumspringa in some (but by no means all) Amish
  communities
• Generally have little or no impact on status in
  the wider/dominant culture

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6
Subcultural Variations

• Deviant/delinquent subculture (Weiss, 1990)
• Adolescents (us. working class boys) who reject
  school/career as a route to identity formation
• Anti-school subculture with an inverted value
  system delinquent activities valued)
• Arguably due to rejection by of middle class
  values that dominate education

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7
Historical Change

• The adolescent is a recent innovation
• Until the 20th century the transition between
  childhood and adulthood was sharper, and in some
  respects ritualised
• E.g. first razor keys to the house etc.
• Possible that adolescence as we know it is an
  outgrowth of economic conditions in our society,
  rather than an inevitable developmental stage

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