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Transition between childhood and adulthood
Transition between childhood and adulthood
Transition between childhood and adulthood
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When Arnett first introduced the term Emerging Adulthood, he defined it as “a period of development bridging adolescence and young adulthood, during which young people are no longer adolescents but have not attained full adult status” (Arnett, 2004, p. 312). In many cases, emerging adulthood can be a rather lengthy transition period, typically beginning around the age of 18 and coming to its end around the age of 25, although Arnett would likely extend the upper age boundary to the age of 29 (as cited in Santrock, 2015, p. 402; Arnett, 2004). However, depending on the course of an individual’s life, one may be considered an adult at a much younger, or a much older age. A few examples of this may be related to an emerging adult’s self-identity,
“The Jacket” when the young boy is placed in the unenviable position of wearing a jacket
There are No Children Here; by Alex Kotlowitz is a story about two brothers and their mother, Pharaoh, Lafayette and LaJoe Rivers and them growing up in the late 1980's in the (HHH) Henry Horner Homes, a housing project in Chicago. In the story the boys try to retain their youthfulness while they see constant gang violence, death of people close to them and their brother is in jail and their dad is struggling with drug addiction.
I found the article, "Coming of Age in New Jersey" to be extremely interesting. It was fascinating to read about how college life differed from the time that Michael Moffatt was an undergraduate, but there were also some aspects of college that had remained the same. As I was reading, I found the section titled, "What College is REALLY Like" to be particularly interesting. In the essay, Moffatt talks about how college was a mix between academics and experiencing "college life". It was interesting because in doing this experiment, he was able to gain a dual perspective on college. He had a professor's point of view and also the point of view of the students.
If all Arnett’s talk about emerging adulthood sounds vaguely familiar . . . well, it should. Forty years ago, an article appeared in The American Scholar that declared “a new stage of life” for the period between adolescence and young adulthood. This was 1970 when the oldest members of the baby boom generation — the parents of today’s 20-somethings — were 24. Young people of the day “can’t seem to ‘settle down,’ ” wrote the Yale psychologist Kenneth Keniston. He called the new stage of life “youth.”
In recent years more and more attention has been placed on the period of development known as emerging adulthood; a period of life from the late teens to late 20s. In many ways emerging adulthood is a period defined by a sense of uncertainty, as individuals try and grasp a better understanding of themselves. A large piece of this puzzle is development in the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social fields; yet in many ways society and the internet work against this young age group in maturing these four domains. The trends, pressures, and stereotypes set my popular culture warp the development of emerging adults in a negative direction.
Emerging Adulthood represents the period of development from late teens through their twenties, mainly focusing on the ages 18-25. This is the period which people start exploring and realizing the capabilities of their lives, which then helps them characterize as adults and no longer teenagers. This topic of psychology is compelling to me because it’s a stage that every adult has lived through, it’s interesting that we have all experienced it differently based on our life circumstances and demographics. It’s interesting to see the changes throughout the years and eventually it will be easier for young people to explore these years as more young adults are going to school nowadays. It teaches me to further understand why emerging adults go through
“Dead Poet’s Society” is a film set in the late fifties at a prestigious school for boys called the Welton Academy. The story focuses on an unorthodox English teacher and his impact upon his students, especially a group of seven boys. The primary focus of this film, in my opinion, is the theme of coming of age. The film itself highlights many important and relevent issues that teenagers face in the process of trying to find out who they are as a person. The students are constantly pressured to conform by adults throughout most of the film. Although these adults are only trying to help the boys, it is important that they figure themselves out and develop their own way of thinking. When the boys realize this, they grow up themselves. The character of Todd is a fantastic example of this. Throughout most of the film, this shy boy is ultimately unwilling and reluctant to go against what he is told. When Neil commits suicide, he begins to see the world in a very different way and understands that sometimes questioning the decisions and regulations accepted by society is necessary.
In today’s culture, the number of issues that the average person has to face on a daily basis, are astronomical. Millennials, in particular, have been greatly affected by this, so much so that a new phase in the human lifespan has been created just for them! Dubbed “emerging adulthood” by psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, plopped smack dab in the middle of adolescence, and adulthood, this phase captures any, and all doubts that 20-29 year olds are plagued with. From their economic standing, to racial, ethnic, and identity issues, and to disabilities ranging from both mental, and physical, this phase captures every single uncertainty, fear, and qualm that one person can possibly have in a neat little package.
J. J. Arnett argues his theory about a developmental stage individuals go through of 18-25 year olds as a new concept, (Arnett, 2000, pp. 469). He describes emerging adulthood as being a sustained period of time where this age group, as mentioned previously, explores their roles preceding being an adult. These movements can include events similarly by taking longer than previous years to get married and have children, moving back in with their parents at a point during this age span, exploring self-identities, not feeling like an adult and feelings of self-failure. James E. Cote, who is a previous colleague of Arnett argues the opposite about this concept being an unexperienced developmental stage Arnett calls, “Emerging Adulthood”. Cote states
Extensive demographic and cultural shifts have taken place over the past few decades that have made late adolescence and early twenties into a new transitional developmental period known as emerging adulthood for young individuals across industrialized societies. Arnett (2000) argues that emerging adulthood is a “distinct period of the life course” that is “characterized by change and exploration of possible life directions” (469). Additionally, a critical area of identity exploration during emerging adulthood is love and romantic relationships. Arnett contends that “demographic changes in the timing of marriage and parenthood in recent decades has led to prolonged periods of adolescence and delayed adulthood transitions” (470). By postponing
Adolescence refers to the transition period experienced by children that occur between childhood and adulthood (Shefer, 2011). Identity is first confronted in adolescence between the ages 12 – 19 years old, because of physical and hormonal changes in the body. It is also due to the introduction of formal operations in cognitive development and societal expectation that this contributes to an individual’s identity to be explored and established (McAdams, 2009). The forces within and outside (family, community) the individual that promote identity development usually create a sense of tension. The basic task is, in Erikson’s terms, “fidelity or truthfulness and consistency to one’s core self or faith in one’s ideology” (Fleming, 2004: 9), in a nutshell: "Who am I and where am I
“Though the age boundaries are not set in stone, we will consider middle adulthood as the developmental period that begins at approximately 40 to 45 years of age and extends to about 60 to 65 years of age” (Santrock, 2013, p. 485). I interviewed two individuals for this paper. Each person was asked the same fifteen questions (Appendix). I interviewed a male and a female who fell in the midrange of middle adulthood.
Adulthood has often been associated with independence. It serves as a turning point in life where one has to take responsibility for oneself and no longer being dependent on his or her family. Early adulthood, usually begins from late teens or early twenties and will last until the thirties (Santrock, 2013). Early adulthood revolves around changes and exploration while middle and late adulthood are more of stability. The transition from adolescence and adulthood differs among every individual. The onset of the transition is determined by many factors such as culture, family background, and the personality of the individual. Emerging adulthood (as cited in Santrock, 2014) is the term to describe the transition period from adolescence to adulthood.
Childhood and adulthood are two different periods of one’s lifetime but equally important. Childhood is the time in everybody’s life when they are growing up to be an adult. This is when they are being considered babies because of their youthfulness and innocence. Adulthood is the period of time where everybody is considered “grown up,” usually they begin to grow up around the ages of eighteen or twenty-one years old but they do remain to develop during this time. However, in some different backgrounds, not everybody is not fully adults until they become independent with freedom, responsible for their own actions, and able to participate as an adult within society. Although childhood and adulthood are both beneficial to our lives, both periods share some attributes such as independence, responsibility, and innocence that play distinctive roles in our development.
Becoming an adult, also known as young adulthood, is a very crucial stage in one’s life. This is the climax of physical and health processes. This is the point in life when we make plans of our futures. It is the time when we think of what life will be like as an adult and make plans for the future. Most importantly, it is when we lay the starting point for developmental changes that we will undergo throughout our lives. An adult is a person who is fully grown or developed. Some people believe that you become an adult when you are 18 years old, other believe you are an adult when you can legally buy and consume alcohol, that is, at age 21 in the United States. Others believe that you are an adult when you are supporting yourself