Describe and Evaluate the Notion That Adolescence Is a Period of Storm and Stress Essay Example

then makes its way into their lives as a coping mechanism.

This stage in Erikson’s psychosocial theory is called the ‘identity versus role confusion’. Erikson (1969) was a neo-Freudian theorist who looked at the interaction between internal drives and cultural demands Boyd & Bee (2008). Erikson claimed that in a kind of ‘moratorium between adulthood and childhood’ Boyd & Bee (2008):341. Their old identity will not be enough in adolescence so a new identity should be created, one that will help the young person with all the complex roles they will have to play in adult life.

When the individual is confused with these roles they will undergo a critical transition called the identity crisis. Erikson believed that when the individual is undergoing this stage they will identify with peer groups as a defence to the emotional state they go through whilst finding their true selves. This can be a confusing and difficult part in the adolescents life and they will feel stressed and agitated with their lives, this could lead to them feeling suicidal, involving themselves with the wrong company, taking drugs and drinking and being disrespectful to peers and parents.

This concept of identity crisis may be relevant to the western societies however the whole concept of identity crisis has been influenced by the cultural assumptions in the western societies where there is a gap between childhood and adulthood where the person is left to find itself and in less industrialised cultures the shift to childhood to adulthood is done without any crisis at all. Boyd & Bee (2008) Lawrence Kohlberg (1976) is another theorist who has explanations of the why adolescents undergo antisocial behaviour in

this part of their lives.

He had three stages within his theory of model development. The stage which will be looked at is the second stage which is the ‘conventional moral reasoning’ stage. This Kohlberg believed refers to adolescents who look at society for moral guidance. This could be through media, parental expectations, society expectations and the society norms and values. The adolescent will behave accordingly to receive approval from others as well as participating in behaviours with the social order.

In this stage what the individuals considers being right and wrong is related to the conditions they have in their society. This theory can be associated to why adolescents go through the ‘storm and stress’ stage; it could be because the media displays the stereotypical way an adolescent should behave and hence the individual then see’s this behaviour as the norm and finds the need to replicate these behaviours to be considered normal. They see celebrity’s involvement in risky behaviour, mood disruptions and parental crisis’s they then reinforce these characteristics in their own lives.

Also as they are growing up the parent may not be controlling the antisocial behaviour which then carry onto their adolescent lives and they find it easy to relate to other peers with these behaviours also which then distances them more from their parents and increases their antisocial behaviours, however, if the child is monitored closely then they are unlikely to involved in these behaviours and they will have close attachment with parents which will help to reduce their chances of ‘storm and stress’ through their adolescent stage.

Boyd & Bee (2008) Within the concept of stress and identity confusion there are many varied

ideas to whether it is caused through “endogenous” (biological) or “exogenous” (cultural) factors. Sahakian (1977) Psychologist G. Stanley Hall (1904) was the first psychologist to explicitly consider the storm and stress issue in relation to adolescence. G. S. Hall (1904) had a notion that the reason that individuals experience ‘storm and stress’ is because of the biological and hormonal changes that the adolescence faces.

When they are undergoing these changes they are likely to experience vast amounts of mood swings, bad temper and agitation. Research indicates that there are several links between hormonal changes and emotional states. Buchanan, et al (1992): Adams & Berzonsky(2003) Rousseau a German man called Goethe published a book called The Sorrows of Young Werther’ which was born out of the developing German study of what became known as ‘sturm and drang’ or storm and stress. It was from these works that Stanley Hall developed his own theory of storm and stress.

Hall explains that adolescence is a period of time full of contradictions and wide swings in mood and emotion. In one moment the adolescence may be nice and friendly towards their peers and parents but in an instant they can be nasty towards the very same people. Hall believed that the changing biology of an individual allowed for this increase in conflict. Hall believed that the biological factor was the base of ‘storm and stress’ in adolescences, but he also held the thought that the culture influenced them also. In Hall’s view, the ‘storm and stress’ concept is likely to ccur in USA than in “older lands with more conservative traditions’ Hall, (1904), (p. Xvi). This could be because of the

expectation in the western society to go through ‘storm and stress’ at adolescence. Adolescences are expected to act in a certain way in the western society; have conflicts with parents, mood disruptions and have reckless antisocial behaviour; this is a factor to consider in response to the ‘storm and stress’ issue. It is evident that adolescent’s behaviour is uniquely subject to the harsh expectations people have of then.

Hall also believed that Adolescence is a time in an individual’s life when they start to distance away from their parents which then causes many conflicts between them. Studies have shown that the conflict between parents and adolescents increase in early adolescence and then remains high for a couple of years until decreasing in late adolescence (Laursen et al. (1998): Paikoff & Brooks-Gunn (1991): Smetana, (1989). The parental and adolescence conflict could be because the adolescent may still be treated like a child by the parents.

This can cause the adolescent to rebel against them to show the parents that it is no longer a child. This can be informs of participating in crime, having sex, drinking excessively and other acts which are associated to adulthood. The reason why these acts are done excessively by the adolescence is because they may be new to these behaviours and they may feel that if they act in this way their parents will accept that they are ‘grown up’. Margaret Mead (1928) claimed that ‘storm and stress’ in adolescents is down to self-fulfilling effects of stereotypical beliefs and cultural settings.

Through the research she conducted she saw that life in Samoa for adolescents was carefree and they didn’t go through the ‘storm and

stress’ stage in life and that the whole concept of ‘storm and stress’ being biological is not correct. Meads prospective was challenged however by Derek Freeman (1983) who found that adolescents in Samoa were sexually introverted, apprehensive and violent than Mead had reported. According to Freeman (1983) Mead dismissed all aspects of biology and basing ‘storm and stress’ to be determined by culture and nurture alone.

It should be taken into consideration that Freeman’s research was done on different people, to whom Mead had used in her study, but the strength of biological factors which Mead ignored should also be taken into consideration, because bodily changes in Hall’s view was the main reason for such conflicts and personalities to develop of which Mead ignored absolutely. The nature and nurture concepts of explaining the validity of the ‘storm and stress’ period is a vital step to determine what factors influence this behaviour to develop.

With the help of both biological factors and the cultural factors it will be evaluated to what it is that actually influences ‘storm and stress’. Each theory shows validity in explaining why individuals go through the ‘storm and stress’ stage in life. Question is whether ‘storm and stress’ is something which is genuinely because of biological and social changes adolescents have to face or a concept which is forced upon them to act upon in the western societies?

Exploring other cultures it shows that when a boy is excluded from doing activities that men do they are more likely to experience problems at adolescence to a culture in which the adolescent takes part in the activities men do and isn’t given the time to find

themselves. Schlegel & Barry (1991). Evidence indicates that traditional cultures are more likely to maintain their values, which results in less conflict with the parents and fewer rates of risky behaviour, even if they are exposed to the west through media. Feldman et al. , (1992): Feldman et al. (1991) Schlegal, in press.

Increased individualism results in broadening minds, furthermore, when there is an increase in individualism there is more increased chance of the individuals to go through ‘storm and stress’. If the influence on non western cultures continues then they will also experience ‘storm and stress’. To conclude adolescent storm and stress has now become a popular aspect in all adolescents development in the western society. This issue is an issue which is created through influences from the media and expectations from the society with coping with all the biological changes the adolescent faces.

As long as they are living in such expectations the concept of ‘storm and stress’ will continue to grow and individuals will only find a way to express their journey from childhood to adulthood through going through this change in behaviour. Even through all the ‘storm and stress’ adolescents still enjoy their lives. The paradox of the concept of ‘storm and stress’ in adolescents is that going through these changes will help with their growth and a contribute to finding their true characteristics.