ADOLOSCENT BEHAVIOUR

ADOLESCENCE:
A DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITION
• Adolescence: Developmental transition
between childhood and adulthood entailing
major physical, cognitive, and psychosocial
changes.

• Derived from the Latin word ‘adolescere’

means ‘to grow’ or ‘to mature’
• The life span or stages of development of
human organism can be divided into the
following stages:
• 1.Pre-natal stage
• 2. Infant Stage
• 3. Childhood Stage
• 4. Adolescence
• 5. Adulthood
• 6.Old Age
• Adolescence period runs between childhood
and adulthood and is also called the period of
teenage.
• It covers a period of seven or eight years,
normally from 12 to 18 or 20 years.
• Some children may manifest traits in 10 th
year and others till the age of 15 or 16 years
• The child experiences a number of changes in
this transitional period.
• According to A. T. Jerslid, Adolsecence is that
span of years during which boys and girls
move from childhood to adulthood, mentally,
emotionally, socially and physically.

• Dorthy Rogers defines adolescence as a

process rather than a period, a process of
achieving the attitudes and beliefs needed for
effective participation in society.
• Hadfield says that when we speak of
adolescent as growing up we mean that the
youth is leaving behind the phase of protective
childhood and is becoming independent.
• WHO defines adolescence both in terms of age
( spanning the ages between 10 and 19 years)
and in terms of phase of life marked by special
attributes. These attributes include:
• Rapid physical growth and development
• Physical, social and psychological maturity
• Sexual maturity
• Development of adult mental processes and
adult identity
• Transition from total socio-economic
dependence to relative independence
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
ADOLESCENCE PERIOD
• Combination of opposites- behaves like a child in
many ways and on the other hand he likes to be
treated as an adult.
• Know-it –all attitude
• Feeling of more grown-up
• Intensely emotional – fluctuates between two
extremes
• Self-seeker- seeking his own place in the life
around him
• Self-Assertive
• Revolting tendency- revolt against authority
• Maximum growth of intelligence
• Intensively passionate for expressing his
opinions and appreciation.
• Group work
• Relative influence of teachers- responds more
readily to influence of teachers than of parents.
• Hero-worship
• Physical attractiveness- lot of interest in physical
attractions and good grooming
• Sex attraction towards opposite sex
• Homosexuality attraction towards same sex
• Day-dreams
• Gangs/groups- keen to form small groups
 Thus according to Burton,
the adolescent is awkward, graceful, respectful,
selfish, altruistic, narrow-minded,
sympathetic, cruel individual.
Peel, the adolescent thus appears excessively
aggressive and occasionally shy, excessively
affectionate and then quite suddenly
detached and cool.
 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Change in height and weight
• Change in bodily proportion
• Change in Voice
• Development of sex organs and sex glands
• Internal changes which cannot be seen but can be
measured like increase in pulse rate, blood
pressure, change in digestive system, circulatory
system ,etc.

• Increases in motor performance

 COGNITIVE /INTELLECTUAL
CHARACTERISTICS
• Adolescent cognition shows greater abstract quality in ability to
– Solve problems by verbal means alone
– Create make-believe or purely
hypothetical situations
– Engage in extended speculation and
test solutions systematically
• Assimilation (The incorporation of new experiences into
existing structures.) dominates development of thought
• In later adolescence, accommodation (The changing of an old
structures so that new experiences can be processed.) returns
to thinking and information-processing
– Increased ability to generalize facts
– Increased ability to understand
– Increased ability to deal with abstraction
– Increased ability to communicate with other
person
– Development of memory and imagination
– Identification of conditions and characters in the
larger world
– Understanding of moral concepts
 EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Complexity of emotions
• Development of abstract emotion
• Emotional feelings are widened
• Bearing of tensions
• Capacity of sharing emotions
• Loyalties expanded
• Realism in emotional experiences
• Reviewing of hopes and aspirations
• Toleration of aloneness
• Externalization of feelings
• Increased compassion
 SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Social responsibilities
• Social circle narrows down
• Identification as an adult
• small group of close or good friends
• Crowd-loosely organized group of several
cliques and others
• Dating-apart of teen life; assist teens in
learning about people, love relationships,
etiquette, culture and cooperation
• Peer pressure-pressure to conform-seen in
dress, grooming and participation in social
activities
• Relationships with the members of opposite
sex
• More influence of peer group-Average at least
18 hours per week with peers
• Friendships-intimacy
• Loyal
• Close friendships assist with self exploration,
understanding of others, stress of teen years,
and school stress