Analysis Of The Four Stages Of Adolescence

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One of the most important if not the most important stage in anyone’s life is the period of adolescence. Santrock defines adolescence as the developmental period of transition from childhood to adulthood which begins around ages 10-13 and ends sometimes in the late teens (16). The subject whom I observed and spoke with is a friend of mine by the name Blake. Blake is 18 years old and is a white male who is at the tail end of the period of adolescence. Through my observation and conversation, I learned a lot more about a longtime friend who is still dealing with adolescence issues such identity, gender, and the roles that go along with them. As well as other issues, such as career choice, religion, and self-understanding. I will explain …show more content…

Santrock explains Marcia’s 4 stages in the following matter identity diffusion which is Marcia’s term for the state that adolescents are in when they have not yet experienced an identity crisis or made a major commitment, identity foreclosure which is the stage in which adolescents have made a commitment but have not yet experienced an identity crisis, identity moratorium which means adolescents are in the middle of an identity crisis but have not made a clear commitment to an identity, and lastly identity achievement which is when an adolescent has undergone an identity crisis and made a commitment (145). The reason why Blake is in the stage of identity moratorium is because he is carefully deciding a career path, which is a huge part of your identity. Blake has done a good job of narrowing down his choices to working in law enforcement and becoming a Fish and Wildlife Officer or studying computer science and seeing which doors and career paths that opens for him. So, Blake is experiencing identity moratorium and is towards the end of that period since he has narrowed down a huge part of his identity, his career to two main …show more content…

Also, school is a place where morals can be taught. The moral atmosphere that characterizes every school is known as the hidden curriculum (qtd, In Santrock 245). The hidden curriculum for the middle school that Blake attended was not a very good one as he has some highly negative experiences during that time. Blake is overweight and was overweight during that period and didn’t handle it well in interactions with his peers. Blake experienced high levels of bullying during that period which got so bad that he would either pretend to be sick or force himself to get sick to avoid going to school at times. This all points to a poor hidden curriculum at his middle school. A stronger hidden curriculum would have pointed his peers in a direction to not bully him and perhaps even encourage weight loss if they were mature enough themselves at this period in their

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