Adolescence:
Change and Continuity
Adolescence:
Change and ContinuityCaren S. Loewenstern csl116@psu.edu
In recent decades, there has been a dramatic increase in mothers working outside the home. One of the main reasons we're seeing more employed mothers is the greater incidence of divorce and separation (Chase-Lansdale & Hetherington, 1990). Without the father's contributions, more women are now being forced to work. The effects of single mothers' employment are both positive and negative, but most negative affects tend to subside before adolescence occurs, especially in adolescent girls. The positive effects could be caused from the mother being satisfied with her job, contributing to her overall social and psychological well-being and leading to more positive mother-child interaction (Chase-Lansdale & Hetherington, 1990). On the other hand, the single mother might feel overburdened by the responsibilities of work and single parenting (Duckett and Richards, 1995). Being in the labor force, they spend less time on household tasks, child care, personal care, and recreation than unemployed single mothers (Sanik & Mauldin, 1986).
What are the effects of single mothers' employment on adolescents (Duckett and Richards, 1995)?
Adolescent Boys
Adolescent Girls
Both Boys and Girls
Does single mothers' employment cause problems for adolescents today?
Over 50% of all mothers are now employed outside the home. This phenomenon seems to be growing with increased regularity. . Despite the preconceived stereotypes, society needs to become aware that single mothers are not putting their families at risk by working. In fact, they may be creating a better environment for themselves and their adolescent children.
For more information . . .
Alice Flemming amf121@psu.edu
Teen parenting is a phenomenon affecting many young people and their children. Both adolescent parents and their children are at a health, educational, and economic disadvantage.
Health: Adolescent mothers face greater risks to their health than older mothers, such as anemia, pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure), premature delivery, underweight birth, and possibly death. (Haynes, 1987) Most of these health risks are the result of inadequate prenatal care, rather than physical immaturity or lack of development. While quality prenatal care is lacking in most teenage mothers, research shows that 4 out of 10 African-American adolescent mothers did not receive adequate prenatal care. (Planned Parenthood, 1991)
The children of these teen parents are often born into a continuing cycle of poor health. Infants born to teen mothers are at a higher risk of premature birth, low birth weight, fragility, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. (Haynes, 1987) The infant mortality rate for children of adolescents was 12.4 per 1,000 births in 1993 compared to 7.6 for older mothers. (Guttmacher, 1994) These children are three times as likely to be hospitalized.
Educational: While teen mothers are no longer socially expected to drop out of school, 80% still do, and only half of those who have their first child before the age of 17 will complete a high school or GED program before they are 30. (Center for Population Options, 1993) Even a few years can make a difference in a teen mother's life. An adolescent who has their first child between the ages of 20-24 is twice as likely to complete college than one who gives birth before the age of 19. (Center for Population Options, 1994)
The children of these parents continue to score lower on cognitive development tests than their peers. Research shows that instead of these differences staying the same or declining over time, they tend to increase, creating a larger educational difference between these children and their peers over time. (Planned Parenthood, 1991) These children tend to show lower academic achievement and higher drop out rates. They are also shown to have sex at an earlier age than their peers, and are more likely to become teenage parents themselves.(Guttmacher, 1994) This creates a cycle of disadvantage that may repeat from one generation to the next.
Economic: Teenagers who do not have a high school diploma or GED have a much harder time finding a stable, good paying job. Women who become mothers in their teen years earn half as much as those who become mothers after age 20. (Center for Population Options, 1993) One in ten teen mothers do not receive the child support owed to them, and 4 out of 10 teen mothers receive food stamps or other government assistance.(Center for Population Options, 1993)
Teen Parenting Websites
Barbara Burgie bjb146@psu.edu
Recent statistics state that 3.2 million children are living with their grandparents or other relatives. This enormous number has increased over 40% in the last few years, and the number is still growing (http://nyscc.org/voice/s94/grandparents.html). These statistics support the possibility that many grandparents could use some helpful information in raising their grandchildren. According to Strauss (1996) this is a particular concern for Black American grandparents. Strauss (1996) states that for this segment of the population, grandparents are usually the main sources of socialization for their grandchildren. The following addresses some issues in being a grandparent/guardian to an adolescent.
What are my legal rights as a grandparent?
A major concern of many grandparents is the question of legal rights. According to Struass, (1996) in 1983 there were huge efforts to try to pass a visitation bill for grandparents, however, this bill did not pass. Since this time period, there have been many cases where grandparents are gaining rights and custody of their grandchildren. Visitation and legal rights vary according to the local laws in a given area.
What are special duties of a guardian/grandparent of an adolescent?
(http://senior_site.com/grandpar/g_articl.html)
What special issues must I address with my teenage grandchild?
Adolescence is a very confusing time, and for most it is a time of physical and mental change. It is time with adolescents are defining themselves outside of the family. Depner and Bray (1993) conclud that having a grandparent in the house can serve as a protector for that child. In addition, they noted that grandparents can help educate the family of their historical background and ancestry.
Conclusion
As a grandparent in the 1990's, there are many changes in what was believed to be the "traditional" role. Changes include issues of becoming guardians of grandchildren, and raising adolescents. This task involves many new questions and concerns. However, understanding some problems that are faced can help grandparents create a strong relationship with their grandchildren.
Other resources
Nyiema T. Lunsford ntl106@psu.edu
Personal life
My family is made up of an African-American mother, Caucasian stepfather, Caucasian stepsister, and me, an African-American daughter, stepdaughter, and stepsister. This is my family. My real father left when I was a young girl, and my mother met my stepfather when I was five years old. Since he's been around most of my life, I consider him to be my real father. I also regard my stepsister as my real sister. What I mean by real is that to me they are just like my biological father and sister. Growing up in my family has not been a big struggle for me. I had people stare and make comments, but nothing too extreme. I used to be picked on by my African-American classmates. They used to say I acted "white". It bothered me at first, but with the help of my family I realized that those people were simply ignorant. I am no different from anybody else. I am an individual and I realize that if they don't like the way I talk or who I am, that's fine because I don't need those type of people in my life.
Family closeness
Both sides of our family get along well. We all support and deeply care for each other. Lise Funderburg says, "Few interracial couples escape all the landmines that are historically placed in their paths: from being disowned by both sides of the family to the occasional stare or muttered comment on the street." (Funderburg, 25) From the time I was introduced to my stepfather's side of the family I never felt any rejection. They welcomed my mother and I with open arms and treated us as if we were part of the family. My mother's side of the family knew my stepfather well before they met because he was an insurance salesman in their area. They respected him and liked him very much. When he and my mother became a couple, they had no objections. When my family and I hear comments on television shows about people not mixing and marrying other races or comments form other individuals, it does not make us feel ashamed; if anything it makes us stronger. We have been a family for over fifteen years and each year we keep getting stronger and closer.
Development
Growing up in an interracial family has had a major influence on my development. One way is it helped me to be more open and accepting of other people's cultures. Barbara Tizard and Ann Phoenix state, "Thus those who had strong ties with both black and white people and cultures tended to be those who crossed social class as well as racial boundaries." (Tizard and Phoenix, 165) I enjoy learning about other people's cultures so that I can get a better understanding of who they are. It has helped me to be open-minded about the friends I choose to have and to not turn anyone away because they are from a different culture or race. Another way it has influenced my development is that it has helped me to be sensitive to racial issues. I understand there are differences, but that does not mean that one race is better than the other is. My family taught me to treat everyone as an equal and to judge them for who they are not what they look like. The bond that I have with my family has helped to make me a confident, headstrong, secure, and intelligent human being.
References:
Carleen M. Krug cmk224@psu.edu
Adolescence is a time of one’s life filled with turmoil caused by the cognitive, emotional, and physical changes that occur at this point in the life cycle. For adopted individuals, this transition is even more difficult. This period of life is also a difficult time for the adoptive parents of these individuals, who experience many similar insecurities regarding their relationship with the adopted adolescent.
In adolescence, years of repressed anger and emotions can explode, manifesting themselves through destructive acting out behaviors. David Kirschner, a Long Island psychiatrist with twenty-five years of experience working with adopted individuals, used the term “Adopted Child Syndrome” to describe the negative behaviors and personality traits that he saw most frequently within his patients. These included: pathological lying, stealing, truancy, learning difficulties, running away from home, setting fires, sexual promiscuity, absence of normal guilt, extreme antisocial behavior, impulsiveness, low frustration tolerance and manipulative tendencies (Lifton, 1994). Adopted adolescents also experience difficulty trusting others, feelings of alienation and inadequacy as a result of being given away. In his book, Adoption Triangle, Arthur Sorosky wrote, “the adopted teenager may be reluctant to get too close to his or her companion because of an unconscious fear of being hurt or rejected.” It is believed that these adolescents, especially females, sexually act out to identify with the image of a “loose” birth mother and that antisocial behaviors are a type of “self-cure” (Sorosky, 1978). Adopted adolescents typically are ashamed of their adopted status and avoid sharing this aspect of their lives with others. They are uncomfortable with the fact that they were probably illegitimate and born outside the confines of marriage. They also, understandably, experience fears of abandonment. Sorosky also pointed out, “a restless wandering by some adoptees which can be interpreted to be a symbolic search for the birth parents, with the underlying purpose of discovering what the latter’s true characteristics were.”
Emerging sexual development and more complex thought processes lead to a heightened concern with genealogical issues and preoccupation with why they were given up for adoption. It is important for an individual to be familiar with their family and medical background; something that adopted individuals cannot accomplish. As adolescents become more aware of their bodies and their sexuality, they often wonder if they are carrying some unknown hereditary illness. Adopted adolescents involved in dating are also inclined to wonder and fear that their romantic companions may be unknown relatives (Sorosky, 1978).
The relationship between the individual and adoptive parents is strained with the arrival of puberty and adolescence. Adoptive parents are often reluctant to grant their children the independence associated with adolescence and are highly sensitive when their adopted children seek freedom. Sorosky wrote, “they tend to view any disengagement from themselves and an attachment to others as an abandonment and return to the lonely insecure feelings associated with the parents’ preadoption childless period.” These parents often restrict their children in an attempt to prevent the child’s emerging individualization, which leads to increased rebellion on the part of the adolescent. It is at this point in the adoption life cycle that the adoptive parents tend to become frightened that the child will leave them for the biological parents or stop loving them. The adolescent test the limits more and act out in certain ways that serve to help the adopted individual decide whether or not the adoptive parents truly love him/her. Adoptive parents become the easy targets and the images of the biological parents are glorified and more idealized (Brodzinsky, 1993).
Adolescence is a time when individuals are searching to discover and come to terms with who they are and what they hope to become, a psychosocial crisis labeled by Erik Erikson as identity versus identity diffusion (Steinberg, 1999). Erikson, who was fascinated with the psychology of adoption due to the fact that he was adopted by his step-father and never knew his biological father, devised a list of psychosocial adoption related tasks that the adolescent must overcome and deal with to form a positive identity. These tasks include coping with peer reactions to adoption, coping with adoption related loss, especially as it relates to the sense of self, further exploration of the meaning and implications of being adopted, connecting adoption to one’s sense of identity, coping with physical differences from family members, and considering the possibility of searching for the biological family (Brodzinsky, 1993). These adopted individuals have a more complicated time accomplishing this because they do not possess any knowledge of the individuals that bore them. They wonder and often fantasize about the physical characteristics and personalities of their biological parents. Since adopted adolescents are unsure of where and who they came from, adopted adolescents are more likely to have extreme feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem than their counterparts who have been raised with their biological parents. As you can see, adolescence, trying enough to the typical individual, is a time of extreme difficulty for adopted individuals and their parents as well.
REFERENCES
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