Adolescence

1. Adolescence Chapter Nine: Autonomy

2. What is Autonomy? Independence An individual’s capacity to behave on his or her own Autonomy Emotional components (feeling separate from parents) Behavioral components (the growth of independent decision making) Cognitive components (developing personal beliefs and values)

3. Autonomy Development in Modern Society Today’s teens spend much more time away from the direct supervision of adults than prior generations But today’s teens also have become more economically reliant on their families than prior generations Insert Photo from DAL

4. Why Is Autonomy an Adolescent Issue? Early adolescence is a period of growing independence and autonomy Establishing healthy sense of autonomy is actually a lifelong process Puberty and the development of autonomy Cognitive changes Biological changes Social changes

5. Three Types of Autonomy Emotional Autonomy Gaining emotional independence in relationships with others, especially parents Behavioral Autonomy Making independent decisions and following through on them Cognitive Autonomy Developing an independent set of beliefs and principles, resisting peer and parental pressures

6. Development of Emotional Autonomy Psychoanalytic Theory: Anna Freud Physical changes of puberty disrupt family system Resurgence of sexual impulses increase family tensions Detachment: Adolescents are driven to separate emotionally from parents Conflict is normal part of detachment in adolescence

7. Development of Emotional Autonomy Modern Theories: Individuation Process of individuation begins during infancy Does not involve stress or turmoil Acceptance of responsibility for choices and actions Measure emotional autonomy by examining: Extent to which teens deidealize parents Extent to which teens see parents as people Extent to which adolescents depend on themselves, rather than on parents Extent to which the adolescent feels individuated within the relationship with his/her parents

8. Development of Emotional Autonomy What triggers individuation? Changes in teen’s appearance provoke changes in how teen views self and how parents view teen. This alters parent-adolescent interactions Social-cognitive development stimulates movement toward individuation

9. Development of Emotional Autonomy Emotional Autonomy and Parenting Practices Healthy individuation and positive mental health are fostered by close, not distant, family relationships Conditions that encourage both individuation and emotional closeness facilitate autonomy Insert DAL photo

10. Development of Behavioral Autonomy Changes in Decision-Making Abilities How do decision-making abilities improve from 7th to 12th grade? Older adolescents showed more sophisticated abilities in: awareness of risks considering future consequences turning to a consultant recognizing vested interests

11. Changes in Decision-Making • Adolescent improvement in decision-making likely due to two developments: • Decline in the extent to which decisions are influenced by their potential to produce an immediate reward • Improvement in adolescents’ ability to control their impulses

12. Legal Decision-Making • When do adolescents make decisions as well as adults? • Debate about young people’s abilities to make decisions in the real world • Where should we draw the legal boundary between adolescence and adulthood? • Difficult debate because decision-making is product of cognitive abilities and psychosocial factors • Develop along somewhat different timetables

13. Legal Decision-Making

14. Development of Behavioral Autonomy Changes in susceptibility to influence Conformity to peers is higher during early and middle adolescence Parents are more influential regarding long-term issues, basic values Peers’ opinions are more influential for day-to-day matters (music tastes or clothing style)

15. Susceptibility to Peer Influence

16. Development of Behavioral Autonomy Adolescents whose parents are authoritarian or permissive are most easily influenced by peers, especially in antisocial situations Adolescents from authoritative homes are less susceptible to antisocial peer pressure but more so to positive peers

17. Ethnic and Cultural Differences in Expectations for Autonomy • White adolescents and their parents living in America, Australia, or Hong Kong have earlier expectations for adolescent autonomy than do Asian adolescents from these same countries • No sex or birth order differences in expectations • BUT there are sex differences in the extent to which parents grant autonomy • Depends on the constellation of sons and daughters in the household and on the parents’ attitudes toward sex roles.

18. Development of Behavioral Autonomy Changes in feelings of self-reliance In general, the subjective feelings of autonomy increase steadily over the adolescent years Adolescent girls report feeling more self-reliant than adolescent boys do Adolescents who have a stronger sense of self-reliance report having higher self-esteem fewer behavior problems

19. The Development of Cognitive Autonomy • Changes in the adolescent’s beliefs, opinions, and values • Studied mainly by looking at how adolescents think about moral, political, and religious issues • Three trends: • Adolescents become increasingly abstract in the way they think about moral, political, and religious issues • Beliefs become increasingly rooted in general principles • Beliefs become founded in the young person’s own values

20. Moral Development During Adolescence How individuals think about moral dilemmas and make moral judgments Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory Used morally challenging stories (Heinz) More interested in the reasoning behind people’s explanations than whether the answer was right or wrong

21. The Development of Cognitive Autonomy

22. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning • Level 1 – Preconventional Stage – child’s moral reasoning is based on external authority • Stage 1 – Punishment orientation – based on being or not being punished (ages 1 to 5) • Stage 2 – Naïve Reward Orientation – based on receiving or not receiving a reward (age 5 to 10)

23. Level 2 – Conventional Level – child sees rules as necessary for maintaining order. • Stage 3 – Good boy/good girl-seeks approval and avoids disapproval from others (8 to 12 years old) • Stage 4 – Authority Orientation – morals based on society’s rules which should be obeyed. Rules are very rigid (around 10 to 14 years old)

24. Level 3 – Postconventional Level – working within one’s own personal code of ethics • Stage 5 – Social Contract Orientation – Morals based on society’s rules, however rules are now questioned and seen as fallible (early adolescence) • Stage 6 – Individual Principles and Conscience Orientation – Morals based on justice, where the person does what they believe is right (adolescence)

25. The Development of Cognitive Autonomy Moral Development during Adolescence Research has shown that moral behavior does not always match moral reasoning Contextual factors influence how a person acts when facing moral dilemmas in the real world Postconventional reasoning is relatively rare Studies have confirmed Kohlberg’s theory Moral reasoning becomes more principled over the course of childhood and adolescence

26. The Development of Cognitive Autonomy Prosocial reasoning, behavior, and volunteerism: Prosocial behavior (helping others) Prosocial reasoning becomes more sophisticated But changes in actual prosocial behavior, such as helping others or empathizing with others, are not consistently found in adolescence Involvement in community service leads to Gains in social responsibility Gains in tolerance

27. The Development of Cognitive Autonomy Political Thinking Becomes more abstract Becomes less authoritarian and less rigid Becomes more principled (an increase in a consistent set of attitudes; an ideology)

28. The Development of Cognitive Autonomy Religious Beliefs Become more abstract, more principled, and more independent during the adolescent years The stated importance of religion—and participation in an organized religion—declines somewhat during the adolescent years

29. Generation X • This is the conscientious, extremely pragmatic, self-sufficient generation that has a ruthless focus on the bottom-line. • Born and raised at a time when children were at the bottom of our social priorities, Gen Xers learned that they could only count on one thing - themselves. As a result, they are very "me" oriented. • They are not active voters, nor are they deeply involved in politics in general.

30. The Gen X Childhood • Divorce reached an all-time high • Single-parent families became the norm • Latch-key kids were a major issue of the time • Children not as valued – looked at as a hardship • Families spread out (miles apart) • Family size = 1.7 children (many only-children) • Perception of the world as “unsafe” • Average 10 year old spent 14 ½ minutes a day with a significant adult role model • Parents looked around and said – we need to do this better

31. The Echo Boom/Millennials… • The Millennials are almost as large as the baby boom-some say larger - depending on how you measure them (approx. 81M). • The Millennials are the children born between 1982 and 2002 (peaked in 1990), a cohort called by various names: Echo Boom Generation Y Millennials Net Generation

32. Safety Issues The Safest Generation • This generation was buckled up in car seats, wore bike helmets, elbow and knee pads when skating, and were the inspiration for “Baby on Board” signs. Seen Increases in • seat belt usage, general health status, attention span deficit disorder We’ve Seen a Decrease in: • mortality rates, motor vehicle accidents, violent crime, fighting, carrying weapons to school, hours spent watching TV, drug usage

33. Major Influencing Factors • Their parents • The self-esteem movement • The customer service movement • Gaming and technology • Casual communication

34. Parenting Millennials • This generation is being parented by well-educated, over-involved adults who participate in “deliberate parenting.” They have outcomes in mind. • Boomers were the first generation to be thrown out in to an unsafe world as adolescents. • The 60’s and 70’s were very scary and many of us felt unprepared for it. • We were naïve and didn’t have enough tools in our tool box to deal with it.

35. Baby Boomers as Parents • Boomers rebelled against the parenting practices of their parents. • Strict discipline was the order of the day for boomers. • They made conscious decisions not to say “because I told you so” or “because I’m the parent and you’re the child.” • Boomers became more “friendly” with their children. They wanted to have open lines of communication and a relationship with them.

36. Baby Boomers as Parents • They explained things to their children, (actions, consequences, options, etc.) – they wanted them to learn to make informed decisions. • They allowed their children to have input into family decisions, educational options and discipline issues. • We told them “just because it is on television doesn’t mean it’s true” or “you can’t believe everything you read.” • We wanted them to question authority.

37. The Result • Millennials have become “a master set of negotiators” who are capable of rational thought and decision-making skills at young ages. • They will negotiate with anyone including their parents, teachers and school administrators. • Some call this “arguing.”

38. Helicopter Parents • Helicopter Parent (n)A parent who hovers over his or her children. • Or Snowplow parent: Parents who clear the way for their children • ……these (echo) boomers are confident, achievement-oriented and used to hovering "helicopter" parents keeping tabs on their every move. (Anthony DeBarros, "New baby boom swamps colleges," USA Today, January 2, 2003)

39. Helicopter Parent go to College • A new generation of over-involved parents are flooding campus orientations, meddling in registration and interfering with students' dealings with professors, administrators and roommates, school officials say. • Some of these hovering parents, whose numbers have been rising for several years, are unwittingly undermining their children's chances of success, campus administrators say. Now, universities and colleges are moving rapidly to build or expand programs aimed at helping parents strike a better balance.

40. Baby Boomer Parents have been their Biggest Cheerleaders • Millennials expect and need praise. • Will mistake silence for disapproval. • Millennials expect feedback.

41. Parental Care in the Millennial Era • Today’s typical family is spending more, not less, time with kids. • Smaller families mean more time with each child. • Fathers are spending more time with children. • There is a strong connection between the social lives of parents and kids. • They get along with their parents and share their parents’ values.

42. Focus on Self-esteem • This generation was the center of the “self-esteem” movement. • 9,068 books were written about self-esteem and children during the 80s and 90s (there were 485 in the 70s). • Yet they can’t escape the angst of adolescence – they still feel disconnected, question their existence, purpose and the meaning of life. They want to feel valued and cared about.

43. Technology • This generation has been plugged in since they were babies. • They grew up with educational software and computer games. • They think technology should be free. • They want and expect services 24/7. • They do not live in an 8–5 world. • They function in an international world.

44. Millennials Want to Learn • With technology • With each other • Online • In their time • In their place • Doing things that matter (most important) Source: Achievement and the 21st Century Learner.

45. The “Information Age” Mindset • Students have never known life without the computer. It is an assumed part of life. • The Internet is a source of research, interactivity, and socializing (they prefer it over TV). • Doing is more important than knowing. • There is zero tolerance for delays. • The infrastructure and the lecture tradition of colleges may not meet the expectations of students raised on the Internet and interactive games.

46. Cell Phone Technology • They all have cell phones and expect to be in contact 24/7. • Not a phone – a lifestyle management tool • Staying “connected” is essential. • Communication is a safety issue for parents. • Communication has become casual for students (IM, email and cell phones. • How has this changed how they interact with faculty?

47. So How Do We Work With Them? • Because they have grown up in a different world, never assume that they know certain things like: • You don’t want to talk to their mother when they are having problems. • You don’t get points for showing up or an A for effort. • The definition of plagiarism and cheating. • It’s not appropriate to call the professor at home after 9pm. • They can’t use IM language in papers. • It’s not okay to email the professor 10 times a day. • That when they email you at 3am, you’re not sitting on the other end waiting to respond to them. • The business office (and most others) close at 5pm.

48. What Should Institutions Do? • Develop policies and practices around appropriate communication (by department). • Give them access to as much as is philosophically possible. • Draw a line on negotiations. • Stop existing in an 8-5 world. • Look into what is known about learning. • Try to actively engage them. • Create alterative ways for the low-tech students to come up to speed.