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Essay on Adolescence in developmental psychology
Adolescence is a time when our bodies, our families, our schools, and the larger society demand that we change. Although each life unfolds in its own unique pattern, this site provides information about basic changes, settings, and issues that are particular to the teenage years. During adolescence, as teens develop increasingly complex knowledge systems, they also adopt an integrated set of values and morals. During the early stages of moral development, parents provide their children with a structured set of rules of what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and unacceptable. Eventually, the adolescent must assess the parent's values as they come into conflict with values expressed by peers and other segments of society. To reconcile differences, the adolescent restructures those beliefs into a personal ideology.
The close of the twentieth century represents both the best of times and the worst of times for adolescents. The lay public and health professionals have gradually changed their views of adolescence from a time of inherent stress and storm to one of opportunities for growth and positive development. Youth in many countries throughout the world, especially Eastern Europe, have the opportunity to grow up in and contribute to democratic societies that were unimaginable less than a decade ago. In stark contrast, the lives of large segments of today's adolescents in the United States and worldwide are threatened by violence, disease, poverty, and limited opportunities for the future. This is the challenging context for the psychology of adolescence one of opportunity and of enormous responsibility.
Paradoxically, the robust growth of a psychology of adolescence has been accompanied by a decline in the overall well-being and health status of adolescents. Although morbidity rates for most other age groups have declined in recent decades, adolescent morbidity has increased. The challenges faced by today's youth are reflected in a host of problems................
