Bài giảng Human Development 2e - Chapter 8 Youth

Chapter 8YouthIs there a problem?Youth: the period after adolescence leading into adulthoodThere are a range of opinions among theorists about whether this is a transition period or not.The markers of the transition to adulthood are changing.Young people may face challenges in transitions due to social and economic changes of a post-industrial society and globalisation.Youth unemployment and tertiary education may lead to young people feeling that they are unable to be independent.Significant life tasks (e.g. marriage, the first home) are becoming delayed in life.Markers of adulthoodDiffering cultural expectations and roles, e.g.:taking responsibility for care of younger siblingstaking financial responsibility for oneselfentering into a marriage-like (committed) relationshipgoing out to work, getting a job.How do we know we have become an adult?Is there a list that we tick?'Emerging' adulthood: Arnett Arnett proposed a new stage from ages 18 to 25.It is characterised by experimentation and exploration.'In between': not adolescence, not quite adulthoodIt involves:moving house a lotholding off commitment toa long-term relationshippaid work career.Social changes affecting youthThere have been relevant changes over several decades.Fewer full-time jobs are available for school leavers.Youth have greater awareness of the wider world.There is more youth engagement in part-time work.The school-leaving age is later.Some implications are:a lengthening period of economic dependencythe expectation of tertiary educationstarting a career happens much later.Is there a 'transition' to adulthood?'Transition' implies a psychological shift through instability to stability.Is the shift about individual psychology or inter-generational (historical) expectations? Is it about the complexities of adapting to social changes?Are the issues more about individual adaptations or what society enables?Are young people in this period incapable of taking individual responsibility?Major challenges for young peopleYoung people have to: manage impoverishmentnegotiate new relationshipsnavigate boundaries.Managing impoverishmentEconomic independence is both a marker of maturity and a challenge for young people.Post-industrial society is characterised by:rapid changes in the job marketmore part-time jobs in service industriesshrinking job marketshort-term contractschallenges to unionisation of workplaceshigh youth unemployment.Having a family with resources family helps (Wyn & White, 1997).Many young adults choose independence anyway.How do young people find their way?They look for reference groups.The try out new identities that affirm who they are.They experiment with jobs and educational pathways.The cost of this experimentation can be significant.Negotiating new relationshipsNegotiating new relationships and status with parents is a major challenge.New friendship groups may be developed—or not.Couple relationships become more common.Do young people tend to drift into becoming sexually active or do they do it intentionally?Use of contraceptives may be difficult to plan early in a developing sexual relationship.Unplanned pregnancyThere are significant misrepresentations of the incidence of adolescent pregnancy in New Zealand media.Births to women under 20 are less than half the peak rate of 1971.Legal marriages of persons under 20 are much less common.The rate of ex-nuptial births has increased due to:fewer 'shotgun' weddingsmore births to older women who have not married (but may be in long-term committed partnerships).Navigating boundariesThis is a time when responsibility moves from the parents to the child.The young person now face challenging boundaries their parents once controlled.'Dangerousness' is often linked to the young: pregnancy, alcohol abuse, drug use, depression, etc.Focusing on risk factors is a way to survey children and families (Tait, 1995) but this is a concerning way to identify those who need support.Alcohol use and smokingYouth aged 18 to 24 have been found to drink more alcohol per week than any other age group.There has been an increase in alcohol consumption by young women.Associated concerns include:car accidents involving alcohol where a young person is killed or injuredpossibility of alcohol dependenceviolenceantisocial behaviour.Smoking coincides with secondary school age.However, in New Zealand the smoking rates are declining for youth.Mental health and depressionOne in five adolescents shows evidence of significant emotional and behavioural disturbance.One in seven young people are estimated to have experienced depression in the last year.A bout of depression can last 7–9 months.Regular exercise and social connectedness protects young people from depression.Depression is treatable.Suicide and self-harmRates of suicide among youth have fallen 31.5% since 1995.In 2006 the rate for males was almost four times higher than for females.The rate of hospitalisation for self-harm was 2.4 times higher for females.Those at higher risk include:children and young people in welfare carethose incarceratedthose who are culturally or socially isolated.Young Māori and Pacific women are the most likely to be hospitalised for self-harm.Protective factorsSome protective factors are:good social skillspositive beliefs and valuessupportive cultural identificationrecognition by others that young people are a valued resource for the futureensuring young people have a valued place in social life.Drug use and abuseMany sources suggest cannabis is widely available to young people in New Zealand.Concerns related to cannabis use include:possible development of substance addictiontransition to hard drugslong-term developmental changes due to regular useinterference with brain function (e.g. schizophrenia)changes to biology of the body.Frequent use is associated with:memory lossloss of motivationfinancial problems.Young offendersRates of offending in the population are highest around age 17 but decrease after that.An estimated 5% of all males in the population are persistent offenders.Antisocial behaviour, including drug use, fighting and inappropriate sexual activity appear to emerge around puberty in a limited section of male and female adolescents.Small numbers of children aged 10 to 13 commit serious offences. These are linked with:severe relationship trauma in the familyalcohol abuse or a criminal history in the family.ResilienceResilience can be seen as qualities that enable a person to come through adverse conditions with little adverse effect.Stanley (2010) showed that young adults can recover from difficulties in their early years.Moltzen (2010) found that many outstanding adults had experienced adversity in their childhood.These newer ideas challenge the assumption that poor experiences in childhood inevitably result in poor adult outcomes.