Sociology: The study of human relationships

1. Sociology: The study of human relationships Chapter 6 The Adolescent in Society Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence

2. Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society Objectives: • Explain how adolescence developed as a distinct stage of the life cycle in the United States • Identify the five general characteristics of adolescence

3. How Adolescence Developed as a Stage of the Life Cycle • Through Education – children stay in school longer; extended period of dependence • Through Work – laws restricted child labor, also increasing length of dep3endence • Through Courts – juvenile-justice system legally distinguished between youth and adults

4. Five General Characteristics of Adolescence • Biological Growth and Development – various biological changes such as changes in body proportions and acne • Undefined Status – adolescent expectations are often vague • Increased Decision Making – must make some of their own decisions

5. Five General Characteristics of Adolescence • Increased Pressure – adolescents are faced with pressure from many sources • The Search for self – deciding what is really important

6. Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Objectives: • Summarize how dating developed as a form of social interaction • Describe the functions that dating fulfills

7. Development of Dating • Industrial Revolution – people moved from the farms to the cities where young adults could gain more economic freedom and their own home. As a result, parental control over young adults and courtship decreased. • Public Education – by the 1900’s most secondary school students attended coeducational public schools which increased interaction between boys and girls.

8. Development of Dating • Automobile – young adults had more freedom of movement away from parents • Telephone – young adults could more easily talk to members of the opposite sex • Equality of Women – more women entered the workforce and took on more active community roles which increased the interaction between single adult men and women

9. Functions of Dating • Serves as a form of entertainment • Is a means of socialization that teaches people about the opposite sex • Fills psychological needs such as companionship • Helps individuals attain status as people are judged in part by whom they date • Aids in spouse selection

10. Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Objectives: • Identify some of the social problems facing contemporary teenagers. • Trace the causes and consequences of these problems

11. Social Problems of Contemporary Teenagers • Teenage Sexual Behavior • Teenage Drug Use • Teenage Suicide

12. Causes and consequences of contemporary Problems – Sexual Behavior • Cause – loosening of norms concerning sexuality; low-income, one-parent families • Consequence – teenage pregnancy; exposure to or acquiring STD’s such as syphilis or AIDS

13. Causes an Consequences of Contemporary Problems – Drug Use • Cause – dropping out of school; having friends who use drugs; social and academic adjustment problems; hostile and rejecting family setting • Consequence – increase in the use of some drugs among teens; increase in drug-related violence

14. Causes and consequences of Contemporary Problems - Suicide • Cause – alcohol or drug use; triggering events such as a family crisis or other trials of adolescence; being female; social isolation, living in an under populated area, bad family environment; cluster effect from publicized suicides • Consequence – death; possible cluster effects leading to other teenage suicides; rise in U.S. teenage suicide rate; teen suicide rate now exceeds that for adults